The Trans-Asia 19

On March 2 of this year, the Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc. (TASLI) of Cebu, a part of Chelsea Logistics Corp., inaugurated their newest ship, the Trans-Asia 19. The inauguration was done in the Port of Cagayan de Oro and Mr. Kenneth Sy, President and CEO of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines led the inaugural ceremony ably assisted by his wife, Ms. Pinky Sy, the TASLI Vice-President for Sales and Marketing . The inaugural went well but what was new was it was held in the Port of Cagayan de Oro since Cebu-based companies usually hold their inaugurations in Cebu. The Philippine Ship Spotters Society (PSSS) was invited and helped cover the event.


Photo from John Nino Borgonia

The Trans-Asia 19  is not only the latest ship of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines. She is actually their first-ever ship fielded  as brand-new and reports say she cost more than PhP 600 million which is four to five times the cost of a 25-year old refurbished and refitted ferry from Japan of the same size. However, Mr. Kenneth Sy pointed out in his inaugural speech that they must need to modernize as the regulatory body Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)  plans to phase out ferries that are over 35 years old already (which means built 1984 or earlier).


Photo from John Nino Borgonia

The ship is only a medium-sized ferry by Philippine standards and her passenger capacity is only 450 persons. She is an overnight ferry-RORO as she is equipped with bunks instead of seats (there are a few seats though for the budget traveler). Her designated route is Cagayan de Oro to Tagbilaran, v.v. three times a week with an extension to Cebu on the 7th day. She replaced their old vessel on the route, the Asia Philippines which was sold to George & Peter Lines, another Cebu-based shipping company but a non-competitor of the company.


Photo from John Nino Borgonia

It was the Kegoya Dock Co. in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan which built the Trans-Asia 19 and it was the mother company of TASLI, the Chelsea Logistics Corp. (CLC) which ordered this ship. Earlier, TASLI and CLC had a merger which had to go through the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) because the deal is over one billion pesos in value. The Trans-Asia 19 is actually similar to the new ferries that came to Starlite Ferries (which was sold to CLC) starting in 2015 but the difference to those is most the Starlite ships were built as short-distance ferries equipped with seats. However, all are sister ships and their superstructures and external lines are practically the same and all were built by Kegoya Dock.

After completion and turn-over, the Trans-Asia 19 started its conduction voyage from Kegoya on November 15, 2018 and she reached Talisay anchorage in Cebu on the first hour of November 22, 2018. The conduction crew of twelve was led by Capt. Hector Nelson Ramirez who is still the Master of the ship. From arrival, the Trans-Asia 19 spent almost two months clearing Customs and completing papers in MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority), the local maritime regulatory body. In the country those two agencies are always the biggest hurdles for new ships. And so it was only on February 18, 2019 when Trans-Asia 19 had its maiden voyage from Tagbilaran to Cagayan de Oro. Yes, the maiden voyage came before the inauguration but that is not so unusual as an occurrence.


The Trans-Asia 19 in anchorage. Photo by Daryl Yting.

The Trans-Asia 19 is a steel-hulled RORO (Roll-on, Roll-off) ship with a single car deck of 13-feet height accessible from a stern ramp. The ship has a bulbous stem and a transom stern and she has two masts and two funnels that lies exactly above the engines. Externally, she is not that modern-looking but her equipment and features are actually all modern. This ferry is even equipped with an elevator for persons with disability and for the elderly and mothers with infants (the elevators run from the car deck). The ship has high sides which provides additional safety in rough seas. As aid in docking, the Trans-Asia 19 also has a pair of bow thrusters.


Trans-Asia 19 bow thruster

The Length Over-all (LOA) of the ship is 67.6 meters (LOA is the maximum length of the ship) and her Length Between Perpendiculars (LPP or LBP) is 61.8 meters. The ship’s Breadth or Beam is 15.3 meters and that is the measure of the ship at its widest. The Depth of the ship is 9.40 meters (and that is the reason for the high sides) and the Draft is 3.22 meters (the latter is the minimum water depth for a ship to be able to navigate safely). Increasing Draft would mean a more stable sailing (but more drag when the sea is smooth) . The Depth from the car deck of the ship is 4.40 meters and that is the distance from the car deck up to the bottom of the hull and that is the point where water will start entering the car deck.

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The Gross Tonnage (GT) of the ship is 2,976 and this is the total cubic measure of the of the ship. The Net Tonnage (NT) is approximate 805 if based on the pioneer of the sister ships. NT is the cubic measure of the ship’s space that is usable for passengers and cargo. The Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) of the ship is 834 tons. That is the maximum safe carrying capacity of the ship in weight and that is far higher than the rolling cargo capacity of the car deck which is 13 cars and 7 trucks and that is good in terms of margin of safety. The passenger capacity of Trans-Asia 19 is 450 persons and the ship’s complement (the crew) is 32 (but this is still increased by the security personnel and drivers on board).

The main engines of this ship is a pair of Yanmar 6EY22AW engines of 1,863ps each for a total of 3,726ps (ps is approximately equal to horsepower) and the auxiliary engines are Yanmar marine diesels too of 500hp each. The engine room of this RORO ship is equipped with a small engineers’ station. That protects the ears of the engineers and it shields them from the heat generated by the engines while the ship is running. The service speed of Trans-Asia 19 is 13.6 knots at 85% MCR (Maximum Continuous Rating) which is about the range an engine is set to avoid damage to the engine. One thing I noticed is the ship’s engines are controllable by levers in the bridge.


Trans-Asia 19 auxiliary engine. Photo by Mike Baylon.

In case of fire in the engine room, the safety procedures work this way. There is an actuator box which when opened automatically shuts the ventilators to the engine room and other sources of air. An alarm for evacuation of the engine room is then sounded and confirmation of evacuation will have to be done and then all hatches and doors are closed. Carbon dioxide gas will then be released into the engine room for two minutes. There is also an instruction should the actuating system fail for any reason but whatever it is still the carbon dioxide system which will be relied upon to extinguish the fire in the engine room. The actuator box is located in the bridge of the ship.

This ship passed the tough “NK” (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai) ship classification of Japan. The navigation area of the ship is restricted to the Philippines (yes, this was really designed to be an inter-island ferry in local waters). The Call Sign of Trans-Asia 19 is 4DFV-3 (for its identification in radio communication) and its MMSI Number is 548937500 (this is in relation to the AIS or Automatic Identification System of the ship which is the equivalent to the transponder of an aircraft). The permanent ID of the ship is IMO 9831995.


President & CEO Kenneth Sy speaking. Photo by Mike Baylon.

In his speech in the inauguration of Trans-Asia 19, the TASLI President & CEO emphasized the safety features designed into the ship like a bridge monitor which will trigger an alarm if there is no person in the bridge (this is the Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System or BNWAS which is supplied by Furuno). This ship is designed to ease the workload of the bridge crew as it is equipped with an autopilot and an autoplotter which means this has reliance not only on the radar but also with its AIS equipment. This ship can dock by itself given it has GPS and an autopilot. The vessel is also equipped with a sonar that warns of grounding (well, that is important in Maribojoc Bay with its reefs where some ships have already grounded). If the sister Starlite ships are touted to be built for the rough Philippine waters then this ship can also make that claim.


Trans-Asia 19 bridge. Photo by John Nino Borgonia.

In the deck above the car deck which is called the Promenade Deck is located the higher class of accommodations of the ship and many of the amenities. Half of the deck is occupied by the Tourist Class and it is located at the aft (rear portion) of this deck. In the middle is the Information Counter, the Restaurant and the Clinic. In the forward section of this deck lies the Family Room for 4 which is paid for by the room but per person it is cheaper than Tourist so it is good for a family or a group. More or less it is the equivalent of Tourist Deluxe. There is also a Private Room which more or less corresponds to Business Class.



In the Bridge Deck of the ship lies the non-aircon Economy Class of the ship in its aft portion and this occupies a space less than that of the Tourist below. The reason for this is just ahead lies the class with reclining chairs and seat belts and it is air-conditioned (in industry parlance this is called “Jetseater”. That should be a good alternative to Economy if one wants air-conditioning and is comfortable anyway in seats like in an aircon bus. Just at the back of bridge of this deck lies the Officers’ cabins, the Crew’s quarters, the ship’s Galley (the kitchen for the crew) and the Mess Hall.


In the bridge there is the usual retinue of equipment like the GPS, radar plus ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid), various gauges and switches, a control board, radio equipment, etc. There is the standard navigators’ table (hard to call it the plotting table now since there is already an autoplotter but it seems MARINA, the maritime regulatory body still insists on paper plots). In the bridge is also a bank of CCTVs monitoring all parts of the vessel. The ship still has the traditional wheel and is not yet joystick-controlled but as mentioned before there is already an autopilot.

Over-all, the Trans-Asia 19 is a fully modern ship with all the safety features needed for safe navigation. And for a ferry of 67-meters length there is a wide choice of accommodations. Bol-anons, Cagayanons and Misamisnons will be very happy with this ship especially since it is brand-new (I was told Bol-anons going south were shocked to have a new ship). And the size might just be perfect for the route. With regards to length, this ship and the ship she is replacing has almost the same LOA. It just happened that this ship is a little wider but the passenger capacity is smaller. That means more space for the passengers. The engines of this ship are a little smaller and being brand-new there will be fuel savings for the company.


A very fine ship! Congratulations indeed to Trans-Asia!


Edit: 3/10/2019 – Changed caption for main engine to auxiliary engine. Apologies for the mixup.