Roro: Made in PH

First Pinoy-made RoRo ship launched


Michael Joe Delizo
ABS-CBN News
19 August 2019

MANILA — The first Filipino-made roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel was launched Saturday at North Harbor in the capital, providing a potential boost to the local ship-building industry. 

The 468-seater M/V Isla Simara passenger ship with a 12-meter long vehicle ramp is the brainchild of Shogun Ships Corp. Inc. and Josefa Slipways Inc.

It is the first RoRo ship in the Philippines with a modern Automation and Control System that can be monitored real-time in the company’s head office. 

M/V Isla Simara is also the first local RoRo ship with a Marine Evacuation System, a lifesaving device that is similar to an airplane’s evacuation chute through which passengers can slide directly to a lifeboat without getting wet. 

The ship is expected to sail on its maiden commercial trip next week from Matnog to Allen towns in Northern Samar.

“This will boost the local ship-building industry in the Philippines,” said Thadedeus Jovelanos, president of Philippine Register of Shipping. 

“It shows that we can build better, better, and better because we continuously learn,” he added. 

M/V Isla Simara is part of the Shogun Ships' initiative to improve the quality of locally built ships, said the company's president Vicente Cordero. 

“We hope that with this project, [we] can inspire other ship owners and ship builders to do this kind of ship in the future,” he said.