By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. on Wednesday said the scheduled delivery of its new roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry from Japan in April had been “deferred” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We still have two ships in the pipeline that are due for delivery. One actually was due last April 21, but was deferred because of the COVID-19 situation,” Chelsea Logistics President and Chief Executive Officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
Mr. Damuy was referring to the 97.78-meter MV Starlite Venus that has a carrying capacity of 740 passengers, 22 buses, and six trucks. The brand-new passenger vessel was built by Japan-based shipbuilder Kegoya Dock Co., Ltd.
In a news release in January, Chelsea Logistics said the M/V Starlite Venus would bring its fleet “to a total of 74 vessels, consisting of 22 roll-on/roll off passenger vessels, 11 fastcrafts, 9 cargo ships, 16 tankers, 13 tugboats, and 2 floating docks through its subsidiaries Chelsea Shipping Corp., Starlite Ferries, Inc., Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Incorporated, and Supercat Fast Ferry Corporation.”
Mr. Damuy said the listed shipping and logistics company is also awaiting the arrival of a 123-meter ro-ro passenger vessel from Japan’s Fukuoka Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. He said the vessel is “coming in the second quarter 2021.”
Chelsea Logistics is continuously looking at other opportunities to get “a better ship,” Mr. Damuy said.
“It only depends on the price and the timing on when we will bring the ship,” he added.
He also explained that once such ships are deployed, it will “take a year” for them to “mature on the revenue side.”
‘NEW NORMAL’ OPPORTUNITIES
Mr. Damuy said the company is “packaging some specialized service” as it sees that there are “more opportunities coming in when things start to go back to normal.” He said the coronavirus pandemic has caused an increase in demand for logistics services.
“[We are] exploring other opportunities out of this pandemic,” he noted.
As for the company’s partnership plans, he said: “We’ve been talking to various people, domestic and foreign operators for a possible partnership to bring value to business. However, these discussions are still in initial stages.”
The Dennis A. Uy-led firm’s net loss ballooned by 51% to P832 million last year as the company suffered from its share in the losses of some units and expenses for new vessels and a warehouse complex.
