President Aquino III poured champagne on the marker of Berth 6 of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) to signal its formal opening on June 28, 2012. The port facility, operated by International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI), has increased annual capacity of 1.9 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 2.5 million TEUs. The berth, whose construction started two years ago, can now accommodate up to seven ships at one time.

Shipping firm SuperFerry said it has resumed operations after serving a brief suspension imposed by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) over the weekend. Superferry officials said “the undue haste and arbitrariness of the suspension” of the entire fleet of the country’s largest shipping lines led to substantial losses. “To make matters worse, large volume shippers have threatened to pull out booked cargoes as questions linger on the capability of the shipping company to deliver its time-sensitive shipment to customers, during the period of suspension,” the company said in a statement. The passenger business was also affected as thousands demanded refunds. Schedules of group travelers were disrupted as a result of the 26-hour service interruption arising from an alleged incident with local fishermen off Sarangani province. More to read at www.abs-cbnnews.c...

One fisherman was missing and seven others injured after a ferry rammed their boat before dawn Friday off Maasim town in the southern Philippine province of Sarangani, police said. Police said the mishap occurred at around 1 a.m. while the Superferry was sailing for Manila. The other crew members rushed to hospital. Other reports said the fishermen were fixing their engine near the port when the ferry rammed their trawler. The vessel did not stop despite the mishap and continued sailing leaving the behind the trawler in total wreck and its crew on their own. The ship’s owner, Aboitiz SuperFerry, did not give any statement about the mishap. (Mindanao Examiner)

MANILA, Philippines -- A passenger shipping vessel carrying 99 persons was rescued after it encountered an engine trouble before lunch time of Wednesday along the vicinity off Danao City and Camotes Island. Lieutenant Commander Algier Ricafrente, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Public Affairs said that M/V Super Shuttle Ferry-17, a passenger-cargo vessel with 99 persons including 82 passegers onboard encountered engine trouble in between Danao City and Camotes Island in Cebu, and presently being towed by sister ship M/V Super Shuttle Ferry-14 enroute to Danao City around 11:55 a.m. Wednesday.

The Philippines has closed down the maritime education programmes of the country's oldest and largest maritime school, allegedly for failure to comply with local and international standards. Ordered closed were courses of the Manila-based PMI Colleges in Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering. Established in 1948 as the Philippine Maritime Institute, the school had grown to become the largest nautical school in the country with its three campuses producing 3,500 deck and marine engineering graduates annually. Over the years, however, the quality of education had declined, forcing the state Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to suspend its maritime education courses, which accounts for the bulk of its enrolment. CHEd executive director Julito Vitriolo said the decision was reached after the school failed to rectify deficiencies pointed out by the commission since 2006. These deficiencies are reported to involve deficiencies relating to facilities and faculty development.

Publicly-listed Mic Holdings of the Romero Group is looking at acquiring seven domestic ports as part of its bid to become the largest port operator in the country, The Star reports. Mic chairman and president Michael Romero told The STAR that this will be in addition to a number of foreign ports their group is also eyeing to operate. More at www.abs-cbnnews.c...

MANILA, Philippines -- All 167 crewmen and passengers of a ship were rescued safely before the vessel sank off the coast of Iloilo Sunday morning. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Lt. Commander Algier Ricafrente said all the crewmen and passengers of MV Trans Asia Malaysia were safely transferred to other vessels after the ship captain issued an abandon-ship order shortly before the vessel capsized. “Maayos at supervised ang transfer. The 107 passengers and 60 crewmen are all safe,” Ricafrente told Manila Bulletin in a telephone in-terview. Reports reaching the PCG main office bared that the MV Trans Asia Malaysia sank at around 8:50 a.m. Sunday as big waves tossed the vessel off its course four nautical miles off Calabasas Island in Ajuy town, 87 km northeast of Iloilo City. The ship, operated by Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc., left Cebu at around 6 p.m. Saturday and was expected to arrive in Iloilo at 8 a.m. But at about 4:55 a.m. Sunday, Ricafrente said, ship captain Romualdo Geraldizo radioed the Coast Guard that the ship was having “difficulties” while they were near Culasi on Panay Island. More at www.mb.com.ph/art...

With Metro Manila remaining under Signal No. 1 due to Tropical Storm Bebeng (international name: Aere), the Philippine Coast Guard will ground all ships weighing less than 1,000 tons and prohibit them from going to sea. "Ships with less than 1,000 gross tonnage are automatically barred from sailing in areas under Signal No. 1 under our maritime traffic rules," Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente, PCG spokesman, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview. Ricafrente said no passenger ship has so far departed the Manila North and South Harbors since storm Signal No. 1 was raised over Manila on Sunday, although there were some cargo ships weighing more than 1,000 tons that did. newsinfo.inquirer...

A passenger vessel from Camiguin Island was left floating for nearly six hours yesterday morning at the Mactan Channel after its engine conked out while it was on its way to Pier 8 in Mandaue City. Super Shuttle Ferry 7 left Balbagon Pier in Camiguin and was about to arrive at the Pier 8 in Mandaue City at past 8 a.m. yesterday but its engine suddenly conked out while approaching the Mactan Channel, said Sr. Petty Officer Joel Maslog of the Cebu Coast Guard Station. Although the Coast Guard and the management of the vessel have not issued official statement about the incident, passengers claimed there were hundreds of them who were left puzzled in the vessel because crew members refused to tell them what really happened.

Manila: Box liner APL has expanded its North Asia Philippines Express (NPX) feeder service to cover central China and Manila in the Philippines beginning this month. The service enhancements also include two weekly calls to Manila from Kaohsiung for improved connectivity across Asia, APL announced Wednesday. South China and Hong Kong markets are better served with direct calls to Manila, said APL.