Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Sea travel hasn't recovered since Frank tragedy By Carlo P. Mallo
THE number of passengers opting to take sea vessels as their mode of transportation to their various destinations in the country has greatly diminished after the tragedy of the Sulpicio Lines' M/V Princess of the Stars in June this year.
More than 700 lives were lost in that fateful tragedy wherein the passenger liner capsized off the coasts of Sibuyan Island in the Visayas.
During Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao's Cafe‚ Rysus, Naty Amorillo of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that from the previous two liners that were serving Davao City, only one is serving now, with only two trips in a week from its previous four-times a week trips.
"We are now only serviced by Super Ferry, but its trips are only Mondays and Fridays," Amorillo said.
Prior to the tragedy, Amorillo said there used to be trips every Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and even Sundays.
"The number of passengers nowadays are only about 400 people per trip, unlike before when there were more than a thousand people on each trip, and there were even two sea liners (Super Ferry and Sulpicio Lines)," Amorillo said.
But this was not the worst part of the shipping industry in the city, as the number of passengers hit a rock bottom of only about 100 passengers per trip right after the tragedy struck.
Nonetheless, Amorillo said that Super Ferry, the only shipping line serving the Davao route, is confident that by the end of the year, the number of passengers will climb back to at least 800 passengers per trip.
