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2GO Group is urging modernization of the country’s maritime transport and logistics services to boost efforts to reopen the economy and revive domestic tourism
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The company echoed an earlier similar call of the Department of Transportation
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2GO last year bought two new roll/-on/roll-off passenger vessels, 2GO Maligaya and MV 2GO Masagana, which are now two of the largest and fastest vessels in the country
2GO Group, Inc. urged the modernization of the maritime transport and logistics services in the country to boost efforts to reopen the economy and revive domestic tourism, echoing an earlier similar call of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
2GO president and chief executive officer Frederic DyBuncio underscored the vital contribution of shipping to the supply chain of businesses across the Philippines. He added that shipping is one of the key industries supporting the country’s continued economic growth.
“We remain committed to supporting the modernization plans of the government and all of the initiatives of the DOTr,” DyBuncio said during Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista’s recent visit to MV 2GO Maligaya at the Manila North Harbor.
“As evidence of this commitment, we acquired two new vessels at the height of the pandemic last year. MV 2GO Maligaya and MV 2GO Masagana are now two of the largest and fastest vessels in the entire Philippines,” he said.
2GO had said earlier it benefited from operational efficiencies and higher service levels in the second quarter of 2022 due partly to the two roll/-on/roll-off passenger vessels.
Despite the impact of the pandemic, 2GO said it was able to turn around from a net loss of P1.14 billion in 2021 and took another P35 million hit in the first quarter of 2022 before delivering net income of P109 million in the second quarter. That left the company with a P74 million net income for the first half of 2022.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has recently ordered DOTr to develop the country’s maritime and aviation sectors to boost the economy and provide jobs to Filipinos.
DOTr said it will be updating the Maritime Industry Authority’s 10-year Maritime Industry Development Plan (MIDP) in compliance with Marcos’ directive to develop and enhance the maritime sector. It said it will also improve ports to allow more cruise ships to call the country and help the tourism industry.
MARINA’s MIDP 2019-2028 – launched in 2017 and updated last year, is a decade-long roadmap aimed at accelerating the development of a nationally integrated and globally competitive Philippine maritime industry.
