By Ma. Teresa Montemayor
BACOLOD CITY – A new Bacolod-Dumangas roll-on/roll-off (RORO) service is launched here Saturday, adding capacity for trucks carrying food, fuel, cement and other goods between Negros and Panay.
Aznar Shipping Corp. deployed the 2,337-gross-ton MV Manoling 7 on the 16-nautical-mile route between Bredco Port in Bacolod City and the Port of Dumangas in Iloilo.
The trip takes about two hours each way.
“Our Bacolod-Dumangas service expands Aznar Shipping’s presence into an important trade corridor connecting Negros and Panay Islands,” Aznar Shipping president and chief executive officer Kyle Alexander Aznar said during a press briefing.
“By deploying Manoling 7 on this route, we are bringing additional capacity to support the movement of vehicles and goods between two of Western Visayas’ major economic centers.”
The China-built vessel began operating on Oct. 19 under a soft launch.
It makes four trips daily, with two departures from each port, and can carry about 30 to 35 trucks measuring 10 meters each.
The service currently caters exclusively to rolling cargo.
Aznar said early demand was promising and that the service was operating at around its 80-percent capacity target after cargo volumes fluctuated in the first few days.
Linking existing routes
The new service grew out of demand from customers on Aznar’s Tabuelan–Escalante route between Cebu and Negros.
For many of those customers, he said Iloilo is the final destination, making the Bacolod-Dumangas service the next leg of their trip.
“So it’s actually really upon the clamor of our customers. You could say it was a low-hanging fruit for us,” he said.
Aznar said they transport agricultural products, consumer goods, petroleum and construction materials.
“We’re carrying the everyday economy of these island regions. So, it ranges from consumer goods like Coke and Nestle,” he said. “You have fuel like diesel moving between the islands. Lately, there’s also a lot of cement. I think that’s a testament to the growth of Bacolod and Iloilo.”
The new service brings the company’s network to five major inter-island routes and 10 regular ports of call across Cebu, Leyte, Panay and Negros.
Describing Manoling 7 as a vessel with shallow draft, Aznar noted that this feature allows it to serve secondary ports that may have shallow waters or limited facilities.
Contrary to notions, Aznar said clients or trucks are not charged based on the weight of the products they carry, but on the space they occupy on the cargo deck.
To ensure safety, the company conducts regular emergency drills and hires a third-party consultant to implement international safety management procedures.
Fleet expansion
Aznar said the company sees room to serve more demand on the Bacolod-Dumangas route and on its existing routes.
“The logistics sector has been very resilient, even amidst the economic crisis, even amidst the fuel price increase, even amidst the global tensions. We haven’t seen a dip in any of our cargo volume, and I think you’ve seen that from our first half 2026 performance,” he said.
The company plans to use the bulk of the proceeds from its proposed initial public offering (IPO) to acquire two new vessels.
At a maximum indicative offer price of PHP0.67 per share, the primary offer could raise up to PHP670 million, he added.
The company is targeting a Dec. 18 listing, subject to approval by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Aznar said it could continue expanding with internal funds if the IPO were delayed, though the timetable could shift.
The company is also evaluating sites for a shipyard to reduce maintenance costs and downtime.
It aims to acquire or lease a site in the second half of 2027, with priority given to areas where it already operates. (PNA)
