ARCHIPELAGO PHILIPPINE FERRIES CORP. VP MARY ANN PASTRANA: Modernizing the face of the domestic shipping industry

ARCHIPELAGO PHILIPPINE FERRIES CORP. VP MARY ANN PASTRANA: Modernizing the face of the domestic shipping industry
YASHIKA F. TORIB April 24, 2019 https://www.manilatimes.net/modernizing-the-face-of-the-domestic-shippin...

Holy Week has come and gone. Majority of Filipinos had taken time off of work to observe religious practices while making the most of the four-day holiday to spend time with families or travel with friends.

The transportation industry, the maritime sector in particular, has seen an influx of passengers traveling either from city to province, or across an island to another. Roll-On, Roll-Off (RoRo) vessels are jam packed with sea-going travelers and cargoes, while hundreds more arrive in streams at piers.

It is during this season that one could see and feel the difference of a brand-new passenger vessel offering safe, timely and convenient services over a rickety old ship with rusts sloppily covered with paint leaving the port an hour late.

With the arrival of the Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp. (APFC), commonly known as FastCat, domestic shipping has taken on a new face that prides on modernization, safety and convenience.

Founded in 2002 by Christopher and Mary Ann Pastrana, FastCat provides a vital maritime link between the Philippines’ 7,107 islands and operates the country’s first and only catamaran RoRo ferries that are specifically designed for Philippine water conditions.

“We were the first to bring modernized ships here in the Philippines with a uniform design. We have invested in branding and committed to a culture which reflects our tagline “Ferry Safe, Ferry Fast, Ferry Convenient,” Mary Ann Pastrana said, adding that Fastcat embeds safety in the minds of sea-going passengers who have become used to maritime disasters in the past.

Humble beginnings

As with many, FastCat suffered from the birth pains of being a start-up company. Mary Ann was initially rocked by these struggles upon realizing that she was entering an industry of men.

“I had my resistance; I thought it was too difficult and too manly. And so I stopped going to the office and enrolled in painting classes instead. I signed up for religious trips abroad just to get away,” Mary Ann said. “When I returned, I saw that we are bleeding. That’s when I realize that I have to help my husband — and so I went all out with my support,” the APFC vice president said.

True to her commitment, Mary Anne brought her intellect and intensity in bolstering FastCat along with her husband.

The couple went through tough times together, seeing how their newly acquired fleet of 29-year old RoRo vessels failed to represent what the company aims to deliver.

“We’ve spent millions opening the route of Mindoro to Calapan, but one of our old vessels conked out. It was too old that we could no longer find a spare part and even the fabricated piece that we’ve had made would not work. We could not operate and we no longer had money for the salary of our staff — it was the lowest of the low for us,” Mary Ann recounted.

Amid her tears and sorrow, Mary Ann bundled all of her jewelry and tried loaning money from her sister just so she could give the salary of their employees on time. “I was crying, wala kaming pangpa-sweldo. It was great that my sister helped us, but later on, when my husband found out that I was already selling my things, he taught me the proper way to handle such business concerns,” she chuckled with the memory of being caught, getting saved and feeling relieved all at the same time.

Such incident became the turning point for FastCat. Realizing that the company could not go on operating old vessels, the couple ventured into modernizing their fleet with the first ship arriving in 2013.

“God has given us a second lease in entrepreneurial shipping; we owe it to him to give our best. There could be no accident or disaster under our watch; it has to be safe for all — and then I realized that we are actually doing it, this time, for our countrymen. I always tell it to our people, everything we do — para sa bayan.”

The Pastranas were plunged in all the pressures surrounding the shipping business — 24/7 ship operations, volatile fuel prices, wind and tide variations, depth of piers, human factors, scientific components of spare parts, and the bureaucracy from different agencies.
“The job is not easy, we were bombarded with all kinds of pressures but we endure,” Mary Anne said.

Modernizing the fleet

The sight of Fastcat brings tears, literally, to the eyes of some passengers who have already gotten used to the chaotic and corroded wooden-hulled ships that are decades old. Many have begun relying on the timely departure and arrival of its ships that vacation schedules and embassy appointments across the islands are conveniently set by sea-going passengers.

“It is our hope to standardize everything by having the same ship design and internationally-classed quality of ship maintenance,” Mary Ann explained, stating that
FastCat aims to change the typical Filipino mindset of “pwede na yan.” “It has been our way to make do with what we have, like ‘okay na yan’, ‘pwede pa yan’. Filipinos usually do band-aid solutions even with equipment; this cannot work with shipping because accidents happen,” she said.

“We at FastCat aim to deliver efficient and excellent services every day,” Mary Ann affirmed.

“We did not reinvent the wheel, we just identified the strengths and weaknesses of the industry and worked from there. If we promised to arrive on time, that there is food in the snack bar, that the seat cushions are not ripped off, that there are tissue papers in the restroom and it is clean — then our customers will get that.”

With its Horizon 2020 project, FastCat aims to grow its fleet of to 30 vessels by next year, and 60 vessels by 2030.

Increasing crew competency

The Pastranas, more than revolutionizing the domestic shipping, also champions the competency of Filipino seafarers.

“It is common among our cadets to dream of having their dream house, dream car, seeing the world for free, and earning dollars. There is nothing wrong with that, but we challenge them to think of their country and the domestic shipping industry,” she said.

“We are creating a path for seafarers, to they can ease into international ships armed with the high standards of actual ship operations. We have created a scholarship program where we train them in the domestic waters, we use the ETVR Virtual Reality equipment,” she added.

“We are going deeper by training our seafarers here in FastCat. We have doubled the training hours; if its 80 hours a year, we are doing double now. This is not just in the number of hours but the quality of training; we have state of the art vessels with AIS solar and wind-powered electro diesel engines. They get exposed with these and we complement it with our ILearn Virtual Reality education. We are doing specialized training with suppliers, they give us free training on safe receiving and handling of fuel. These are deep, technical and comprehensive training.” Mary Ann explained.

For the love of country

Driven by her sheer passion for excellent shipping services and world-class seafarer competency, Mary Ann brings her expertise in Executive Maritime Management earned from the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden.

“We want to be experts in what we do out of our love for our country and a bigger vision that we want to be a part in making the Philippines one and achieving the sustainable development goal in providing decent transportation, making the islands accessible, educating people, and making logistics cost lower,” Mary Ann said.

The mother of four is also an active church worker in St. James parish for the past 25 years, a book lover who also loves traveling and a parent to two dogs. “FastCat is my life now, but I always try to keep a balanced life. I read, I travel, I learn new things,” she concluded.