Cokaliong ‘model of maritime safety’

Chester Cokaliong, founder and CEO, at the 25th anniversary celebration. (CDN PHOTOS/LITO TECSON)

In 25 years, not a single ship of the fleet of Cokaliong Shipping Lines has been lost in a disaster at sea.

With the owner’s fastidious attention to safety rules and sanitation, CEO  and founder Chester C. Cokaliong said he wanted to keep it that way.

“I just told my crew a few weeks ago, that we will maintain a no-sinking policy for the next 25 years,” he told guests who filled the ballroom of the Radisson Blu Hotel for the company’s  silver anniversary on Monday.

The homegrown Cebu shipping company, which operates 10 roll-on-roll-off vessels serving over a dozen ports in the Visayas and Mindano, was hailed as a “model” of maritime safety, cleanliness and customer service by a top official of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) during the celebration.

Gloria J. Victoria-Bañas, deputy administrator for operations of Marina and guest speaker in the gala event, said there  seemed to be little need for an enforcement division in Cebu if all shipping companies were like Cokaliong’s, which she called  “a  role model of a responsible and  self-policing shipping company.”

“Its serious effort  to follow maritime safey rules and regulations  has enabled the company to keep  a clean or zero record in  involvement in any major maritime accident for the past 25 years.”
Bañas said Marina was a witness of the growth of Cokaliong Shipping Lines “from a virtual unknown, single-ship company” holding office in D. Jakosalem Street to a major force in the industry with its own seven-floor tower in the North Reclamation Area and a fleet of ten ships that are “impressively well-maintained”.
Cokaliong  Shipping started in 1989.  Chester, who had no prior experience in the maritime industry, was driven by a “passion for ships” and persevered in a high-risk industry, gradually acquiring vessels from Japan and  learning each aspect of the operation.
His mother, Gregoria, allowed her eldest son to venture out of the family business of textiles and clothing, then reinforced his efforts, serving as chairperson of the board.   His wife, in-laws and children play hands-on roles in various aspects of the operations.
Bañas recalled how in 1993 Cokaliong’s bold entry “broke the longstanding shipping monopoly” of the lone operator of the Cebu Dumaguete Dapitan route, a feat welcomed by passengers and customers in Negros Oriental and Zamboanga del Norte.
Recently, the company embarked on containerized shipping, another high stakes enterprise that requires large capitalization.
With several industry awards and a growing customer base, the growth of Cokaliong Shipping Lines didn’t happen overnight,  said Bañas, who noted its birth during the Asian financial crisis
She said  the achievement was the result of “hard work, dedication and foresight of the entire Cokaliong family led by his mother Gregoria.”
Bañas said relations between Marina and Cokaliong have not always been smooth, as the founder has been openly critical when he disagrees with some policies and made “gentle threats” to sue, but never did .
However,  Banas said they both have mutual respect based on the shared belief that “the path to safer shipping is to follow the rule of law.”
At a Marina conference last year, where  Chester was invited to talk about the “safety culture” in his company, she said the audience was amazed to hear that he goes to the pier every morning to check on his vessels, then returns to the port in the evening to send them off.  In between, he monitors the ships’ movements at sea.
“One really wonders if this man ever sleeps,” said Bañas.
In an impromptu speech, Cokaliong simply explained: “Some people get high on drugs. I get high on ships.”