More roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) type vessels are expected to ply at least two additional routes from various locations in Bohol, said an official of the Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp. during the launch of its Jagna-Balbagon-Opol trips on Wednesday.
The next target of the shipping firm is to establish a route between the bustling first class municipality of Ubay and Bato, Leyte, said Segundo Bentuya, vice president of Archipelago Philippines Ferries which owns the FastCat fleet of vessels.
According to Bentuya, they are also planning to start Ro-Ro trips from Tagbilaran City to Cebu and add one more vessel to ply the Jagna-Balbagon-Opol route during peak months.
However, no timeline for the new projects has been set yet, he said.
FastCat currently has two ro-ro type catamaran vessels operating in Bohol—one is servicing the newly opened Jagna-Balbagon-Opol route while the other is operating between Cebu and Tubigon.
According to Bentuya, FastCat vessels travel at higher speeds compared with other seacrafts despite its size.
Travel time between Jagna and Balbagon, Mambajao on board FastCat, for instance, is two hours while other vessels take at least five hours to cross the almost 60-kilometer distance.
FastCat catamaran vessels cruise at 16 knots while other ro-ro type vessels travel at 7 knots, Bentuya said. (A. Doydora)