Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2023)

PHILIPPINE'S FASTCAT FERRIES

Hitting bottom did not mean quitting, and the decision was made to change its course. “We will give our country what it needs – safe maritime transportation,” said Mary Ann. So in 2010 the company switched gears and decided to take the plunge and invest in new, modern tonnage. Looking at the tra- ditional ferry ? eets serving the region, the Pastrana’s surmised that passenger ships in the region were too slow, operating at about eight knots. “We needed faster ships, we needed safe ships,” said Mary Ann, noting too that it was determined to make onboard staple amenities – such as food facilities and toilets – comparable to international standards.

So the Pastrana team hit the road, “knocking on doors look- ing for partners, investors, bankers with the plan to modernize the Philippine ferry ? eet. The ? rst approval to build a modern © kameonline/AdobeStock ship in 2010, starting with 10 FastCat and building to 20 by 2023.” husband and I attend conferences or go abroad, we ride as

And with it was born a modern RoPax industry in the Phil- many ferries as we can for the experience and to learn. We’ll ippines with the company tagline being: "Ferry Safe, Ferry be in Australia, and I ask them, "How old is the ship?" The an-

Fast, Ferry Convenient." swer is 20 years old, but it looks new. Our ships are younger, but it looks so old. It's because of the ports. We don't get the support we need in terms of fendering or the depth of the pier

Challenges Aplenty

FastCat, like every other vessel operator on the planet, has or the support system in navigational aids.” more than its fair share of challenges. First and foremost is its Another challenge is crewing, which might seem counter- area of operation. With a Filipino population estimated to top intuitive considering that the Philippines is the world’s largest 117 million in 2023 and 7,641 islands in country, the simple origin – an estimated 25% – of the global population of nearly logistics of servicing all of the islands is not practical. 1.9 million seafarers worldwide.

While operating vessels is challenge enough, the Pastrana’s “The Philippines is known as the ‘crewing capital of the look at the maritime port and terminal supply chain wholisti- world’,” said Mary Ann, but this abundance of seafaring riches cally, a vision not shared by the Philippine government. does not help the domestic market. “Even if we are the man- “I always like to think that it's just not the ship alone in this ning capital of the world, we are ? ghting the global market business, it's ships, ports and people,” said Mary Ann. “So ship- which pays more compared to serving in the domestic ? eet,” ping alone is not complete, it's not enough. We have to think she said. The fact that Filipinos more often than not opt for the systematically, which is still not happening in the Philippines.” international shipping market is somewhat of a Catch-22, as

For the most part, the country’s ports, terminals and facili- Filipino seafarer wages pump about $6.5B into the country’s ties are substandard, with the lack of basic infrastructure tak- economy by her estimation. But FastCat is on a mission to ing a toll on the FastCat ? eet, how it looks, how it performs, have seafarers consider the home country as a place to work, how much has to go into repair and maintenance. “When my and it leverage relationships, foreign and domestic – from the

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MR #11 (50-65).indd 51 11/2/2023 10:37:55 AM