Local shipping company establishes Bogo City, Cebu as gateway to Luzon

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

BOGO CITY, Cebu— A local home-grown Lite Shipping Corporation bridges Luzon and the Visayas by establishing Bogo City, Cebu as gateway to Luzon via its pioneering new central nautical highway route, a direct connection from Bogo City to Matnog, Sorsogon and vice versa that was officially launched and inaugurated on Saturday, July 31 at the Polambato Port in Bogo City.

Lite Shipping Corporation president and CEO Lucio Lim, Jr. said that the company with its subsidiaries operating under the brand name of LITE FERRIES has pioneered the greatest number of missionary routes such as the Argao to Loon; Samboan to Dapitan; Mandaue to Tubihon; Bogo to Calbayog; Maya to Calbayog; Dumaguete to Cagayan de Oro and recently the Matnog to Bogo route.

“This is a very important connection as this is the first time and the realization of our dream, it has always been our goal to connect Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and to establish that newest gateway to Luzon from Cebu, with Maya in Daanbantayan as alternative port,” Lim said in a sidelight interview with the media and bloggers during the event.

He bared that the route takes about nine hours and the RORO vessel can take in 20 vehicles and 400 passengers in sleeping accommodation. The plan is to deploy the biggest ship that would take 7.5 hours travel from Cebu to Matnog and the company sees this as an important milestone and hub for Lite Shipping.

Lim said that they are just waiting for the dredging of Polambato Port so that LITE FERRIES can now dock here.  The opening of the Bogo/Maya to Matnog route will be a big economic boost for both Cebu and Sorsogon Provinces, in terms of trade, commerce and tourism.

Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in her message during the same event said that there are so many islands in the country and the best and economical way of transporting goods and people is via ship travel.

Garcia thanked Lite Shipping founder Lucio Lim for putting up a route from Cebu to Luzon that will spill economic activity for the entire Cebu Island. She said that Lite shipping has shown the entire country that a Visayan can become a shipping magnate and are viable economic player in the nautical highway program of this country.

Bogo City mayor Carlo Martinez said that the launching and inauguration of this route marks a special occasion here to establish Bogo City as the Gateway to Luzon.  “This has been my father’s dream and now it has become a reality. 

This route will open more business and commerce between Cebu, the Visayas and the rest of Luzon.  I hope this will bring economic impact to Bogo City and Daanbantayan and this is very advantageous to the LGUs in this part of Cebu,” Matinez added.

According to Lim that in recent years, Lite Ferries has been at the forefront in connecting Bogo City, Cebu and Matnog, Sorsogon.  This has been labeled as the most exciting pioneering gateway to the Province of Cebu.

“This new alternative route will provide a quicker connectivity from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao islands and vice versa.  Maya Port in Daanbantayan will be also become an alternate port for the route depending on weather conditions due to changing monsoon seasons,” Lim bared.

Lim revealed that the Bogo/Maya to Matnog route was established after the successful entry of Lite Ferries in servicing the Matnog, Sorsogon to Allen, Samar route upon the request of MARINA and the Department of Transportation (DoTR).

There are also routes that were granted with pioneering status by MARINA that include the Oslob to Dipolog City route and the Jagna to Vagayan de Oro route, Lim added.

The new route offers several advantages; it has a travel time of only nine hours, traveling direct and avoiding the hassle of the island-hopping trips and more waiting time.  Lesser road usage and save on fuel, lesser vehicle wear and tear maintenance and most importantly the safety for drivers and passengers.

Lite Ferries is a “hall of famer” for having been awarded as “the cleanest ship of the year” by the MARINA and the Bureau of Quarantine (BQ) for many years.  It has an economy, standard and tourist class accommodations with above MARINA standards on passage ways and bed bunks accommodation.

All Lite Ferries vessels are fully compliant on COVID 19 safety protocols and guidelines.

The Matnog to Bogo/Maya trip departs at 11:45 PM every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; the Bogo/Maya to Matnog departs at 11:45 PM every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  

The MATNOG to ALLEN and vice versa route have three round trips daily with on-time departures. Matnog to Allen departs every 4AM / 10AM / 4PM while Allen to Matnog departs every 7AM / 1PM / 7PM.

The launching/inauguration event was attended by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Mayor Carlo Jose Martinez of Bogo City, Mayor Sun Shimura of Daanbantayan, representatives from the Philippine Coast Guard and Marina and PPA/DoTR representative Jay Daniel with the management and staff of Lite Shipping Corporation, headed by its President/CEO Lucio Lim, Jr. 

 

 

 

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