Fewer ferry passengers to S'kan from Zamboanga
Published on: Thursday, June 29, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The passenger load on the Zamboanga-Sandakan ferry service continues to dwindle as authorities on both sides tighten screening procedures due to the ongoing conflict between government forces and Maute-ISIS groups in Marawi and declaration of martial law in Mindanao.Standard Marine Agencies Sdn Bhd, the appointed ticketing agent for the weekly ferry service, noted even fewer people are coming to Sabah since the hostilities in Mindanao erupted in May."There were even instances when we had less than 50 passengers from Zamboanga," its Managing Director Chow Yang Ann told Daily Express.
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The present vessel plying the route is designed to accommodate 500 passengers. It departs Zamboanga every Monday and arrives in Sandakan the following day. The ferry returns to its original port destination in the evening of the same day of arrival in Sandakan.The company had anticipated an increase in passenger load during Ramahdan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri as in previous years."The Marawi siege and martial law has badly affected our operation...nevertheless, the ferry service will continue despite the poor turnout of travelling passengers."Standard Marine Agencies together with its mother company in the Philippines is strongly committed to continue to provide its services to the general public especially the BIMP-EAGA member countries no matter what the situation is," Chow assured.
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He also said the number of Filipinos returning to Zamboanga city had also dropped."I think Filipinos, especially the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) dare not to go home for Raya for fear of being stranded," he said.
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The drop in business, however, won't plans to replace the present vessel to a bigger ferry by August this year.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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