Starhorse Shipping Lines

Starhorse Shipping Lines

Company type	Private
Industry	Shipping
Founded	2008;17 years ago (2008) in Lucena, Quezon Province
Founder	Victor Reyes
Headquarters	Lucena, Quezon , Philippines
Area served	Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro, Quezon and Romblon
Key people	Merian Reyes Dominic Reyes
Website	starhorse.com.ph

Starhorse Shipping Lines, Inc. is a domestic shipping company based in Lucena, Quezon, Philippines. It was established in 2008 by entrepreneur and politician Victor Reyes, who was a former board member in Quezon Province. It mainly serves the provinces of Marinduque, Masbate, Quezon, and Romblon and is one of the leading domestic shipping companies operating in the Calabarzon, Bicol, Visayas, and Mimaropa regions.

History

Starhorse Shipping Lines, Inc. (SSLI) was established in 2008 by entrepreneur and Quezon Province provincial board member Victor A. Reyes, who was previously the President of the defunct domestic shipping company Viva Shipping Lines, Inc. in the 1990s. SSLI is now being managed by Victor Reyes' wife, Merian Hernandez-Reyes, following Reyes' death in 2016. ^[1]

The company acquired two RORO ferries leased from the state-owned DBP Leasing Corporation and operated them initially in the Lucena City-Marinduque route. In the succeeding years, the Maritime Industry Authority eventually allowed the company to operate in other routes aside from the Lucena-Marinduque ^{[2] [3]} and Lucena-Marinduque-Romblon route. ^[4] In 2018, the company commissioned the construction of two new vessels in Mokpo, South Korea, allowing it to operate additional routes such as the San Andres, Quezon-Pasacao, Camarines Sur-San Pascual, Masbate route. ^{[1] [5]}

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the company was one of several ferry companies that assisted the Philippine government in helping locally stranded individuals return to their provinces. ^[6]

Involvement in sports

In 2025, Starhorse Shipping Lines began its entry into sports. It first backed the return of Basilan's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League franchise, becoming the Basilan Viva Portmasters for the 2025 MPBL season. ^[7] It also planned to acquire the Terrafirma Dyip Philippine Basketball Association franchise beginning with the 2025–26 PBA season. ^{[8] [9]} However the sale was aborted. ^[10] They would have competed as the "Sea Titans". ^[11]

Routes

As of April 2023, Starhorse Shipping Lines operates on the following routes:

From	To
Lucena, Quezon Province
	Mogpog, Marinduque
	Gasan, Marinduque
	Banton, Romblon
	Corcuera, Romblon
	San Agustin, Romblon
	Romblon, Romblon
	Magdiwang, Romblon
	Masbate City, Masbate
San Pascual, Masbate
	Pasacao, Camarines Sur
	San Andres, Quezon
Batangas City, Batangas
	Calapan, Oriental Mindoro
	Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro
Real, Quezon
	Polillo, Quezon

Vessels

Starhorse Shipping Lines operates fifteen RORO vessels (Including the vessels from their sister company, Viva Peñafrancia Lines) as of October 2024. Some of these vessels were leased from DBP Leasing Corporation, while four were built by Moon-chang Shipbuilding Dockyard in Mokpo, South Korea: ^[12]

Virgen de Peñafrancia series

• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia I
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia II
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia Tres Reyes

• 

  Starhorse MV Virgen de Peñafrancia II (before her refitting)

  MV Virgen de Peñafrancia V
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia VI
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia VII
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia VIII
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia IX
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia X
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia XI

• 

  Starhorse MV Virgen De Peñafrancia XI

  MV Virgen de Peñafrancia XII
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia XV [New Vessel]

Viva series

• MV Viva Sto. Domingo
• MV Viva Marian Queen
• MV Viva San Lorenzo Ruiz

Future vessels

• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia XVI
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia XVII

Former vessels

These are the former vessels of Starhorse Shipping Lines:

• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia VII/Reina De Luna
• MV Virgen de Peñafrancia VIII/Pinoy Roro 1

References

1. Samonte, Mauro (February 15, 2020). "Extortion on the waterfront". The Manila Times . Retrieved January 27, 2021.
2. "Mga Biyahe ng Barko sa Marinduque, Tingnan". marinduquenews.com. March 24, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
3. Sto. Domingo, Adrian (November 29, 2018). "Tagalog News: Starhorse Shipping Lines, magtataas ng pasahe simula Disyembre 10". Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
4. Fos, Paul Jaysent (April 19, 2017). "Bagong barko ikokonekta na ang Romblon, Sibuyan, San Agustin, Banton, Marinduque, Lucena". romblonnews.net. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
5. Estacio, Danny (February 12, 2020). "No one hurt after an IED exploded after being hurled at RORO vessel in Masbate town". Manila Bulletin . Retrieved January 27, 2021.
6. Maritime Industry Authority (July 11, 2020). "MARINA facilitates sea transport of LSIs back to their hometowns". marina.gov.ph. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
7. "MPBL cancels preseason tourney". Philstar.com. January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
8. Beltran, Nelson (February 23, 2025). "Terrafirma sells PBA franchise to Starhorse Shipping Line". Philstar.com. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
9. Ramos, Gerry (February 23, 2025). "Terrafirma's PBA franchise to be sold to Starhorse Shipping Lines". Spin.ph. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
10. Terrado, Jonas (April 24, 2025). "PBA says Terrafirma sale off after Starhorse fails to comply". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
11. Li, Matthew (February 23, 2025). "Starhorse chooses 'Sea Titans' as PBA identity once Terrafirma takeover gets approval". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
12. "Annyeonghaseyo! Quezon Board Member Dominic Reyes flies to Korea to see two new ferries for Southern Luzon". southluzon.politics.com.ph. August 23, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

External links

• Starhorse Shipping Lines on Facebook