Lite Shipping launches new ship to ply Ormoc

CEBU, Philippines — Lite Shipping Corporation launches its 25th vessel, which is so far the biggest RoRo and passenger ship to ply the Cebu-Ormoc route.

The company’s president and chief executive officer Lucio Roger E. Lim Jr. in an interview yesterday said the Lite Ferry 19 has a capacity of 856 passengers and about 35 heavy trucks and buses.

The newly refurbished M/V Lite Ferry 19 will be formally launched on Monday, March 25, 2019, at the Port of Cebu City.

According to Lim, the ship intends to improve their existing Cebu to Ormoc route, boosting the Lite Ferries’ efforts to contribute to the modernization of the country’s shipping industry.

“This is in answer to the call of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to modernize the Philippine domestic fleet. By the end of the year, 50 percent of our fleet will be either brand new or 20 years below upon acquisition,” Lim said.

Built in 2002, the company claimed that M/V Lite Ferry 19 is the youngest ship to ply the Cebu-Ormoc route. It is also the fastest vessel to date on this route with a travel time of four and a half hours.

The vessel is equipped with two brand-new Ningbo diesel engines (built in 2017), with a total power of 7,800 HP. It has a maximum speed of 16.8 knots and service speed of 15 knots.

M/V Lite Ferry 19 will soon be covering the regular schedule of Cebu City to Ormoc City daily at 11:00 a.m., and from Ormoc City to Cebu City daily at 11:00 in the evening.

With a gross tonnage of 3,881 tons, the vessel is 92 meters long and 17 meters wide coastwise type, RORO-passenger ferry acquired from China. It is now locally classed but undergoing transfer of classification to IACS Class.

In March last year, Lim announced that the company will spend US$ 20 million for acquisition of three world-class vessels.