VESSEL REVIEW | Filipinas Agusan Del Norte – New large Ro-Pax for Philippines’ Cokaliong Shipping Lines

Philippine ferry company Cokaliong Shipping Lines (CSLI) has begun operational sailings of a new Ro-Pax ferry built by Linhai Huipu Shipbuilding of China.

The newbuild is named Filipinas Agusan Del Norte after Agusan Del Norte province in the northeastern portion of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines. The ferry is notable for being the first Filipino-owned newbuild Ro-Pax vessel to be constructed with an inverted bow, which will help improve seakeeping and reduce resistance as well as fuel consumption. It is also the first newbuild vessel to be acquired by CSLI in 30 years.

The vessel has an LOA of 102 metres, a beam of 17.6 metres, a gross tonnage of 6,555, capacity for 998 passengers and 50 crewmembers, and a deck for the carriage of assorted vehicles and other dry cargo. The passengers are meanwhile housed in five different categories of overnight accommodations that include economy and tourist bunk bed sections, eight-person staterooms, four-person staterooms, and a suite. The passenger cabins are situated on the second deck and the bridge deck.

The other passenger areas include a lobby with an information desk, an outdoor lounge with mess tables at the stern, a coffee bar, an indoor casual dining restaurant, a selection of retail shops, and a clinic. Toilets are available in common areas as well as in the various staterooms.

Power for the ferry is provided by a pair of Anqing-Daihatsu 2,800kW main diesel engines and three Cummins 460kW auxiliary engines. The vessel can sail at speeds of up to 14 knots, though the service speed range is set at 11.5 to 13.8 knots. Bow thrusters provide added manoeuvrability, and monitoring of the engines can also be done remotely from the wheelhouse.

The wheelhouse communications and navigation suite includes a radiotelephone, VHF radios, two radars, and an ECDIS.

Design work on Filipinas Agusan Del Norte was done in compliance to RINA classification rules and provided by Chinese naval architects East China Ship Design and Research Institute and Wuhan Yihang Marine Engineering Design.

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