BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Fast crafts from this capital city bound for Iloilo and vice versa are resuming operations after months-long suspension of sea travel.
Frank Carbon, operator of Weesam Express, said their fast craft and OceanJet are expected reoperate on Oct. 31.
SuperCat, on the other hand, will resume trips on Nov. 1.
Carbon said they will submit their schedules to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) this week.
The continuation of the trips, he added, will depend on the quarantine status of the highly-urbanized cities of Bacolod and Iloilo.
“We will also wait if the city government of Bacolod will already allow leisure trips,” Carbon said.
Director Jose Venancio Vero of the Maritime Industry Authority Region 6 said the resumption of fast craft trips came after a meeting with ferry operators on Oct. 23.
During the meeting, it was agreed that each fast craft will have one scheduled trip per day.
But Vero expects that more fast craft ferries would set sail should there will be more passengers.
He added that strict health protocols will be observed by fast craft operators like disinfection before trips, one seat apart between passengers and wearing of facemask and face shield.
“Passengers should prepare their IDs and only residents of Western Visayas will be allowed to go on board,” he said.
Vero also advised passengers to comply and prepare their documents if they intend to enter the jurisdiction of the provinces of Negros Occidental and Iloilo.
Only the highly-urbanized cities of Bacolod and Iloilo so far have allowed sea travels.
He also announced that there will no fare increase yet for fast craft travel./PN
