Starhorse Shipping Lines, Inc. is a domestic

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

based in

Lucena Lucena (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially known as the City of Lucena (), is a highly urbanized city situated in the Calabarzon region (Region IV-A) of the Philippines. The city is the largest urban center and capital of ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. 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 Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...

, Quezon, and

Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...

and is one of the leading domestic shipping companies operating in the

Calabarzon Calabarzon (officially stylized in all caps; ; ), sometimes referred to as Southern Tagalog () and designated as Region IVA, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It is situated southeast of Metro Manila and is bordered by Manila Bay ...

, Bicol,

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

, and

Mimaropa Mimaropa (officially stylized in all caps), officially the Southwestern Tagalog Region (), is an administrative region in the Philippines. The name is an acronym combination of its constituent provinces: Mindoro (divided into Occidental Mindo ...

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. The company acquired two

RORO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ferries leased from the state-owned DBP Leasing Corporation and operated them initially in the

Lucena City Lucena (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially known as the City of Lucena (), is a highly urbanized city situated in the Calabarzon region (Region IV-A) of the Philippines. The city is the largest urban center and capital of Q ...

route. In the succeeding years, the

Maritime Industry Authority The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA, ; ) is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Transportation responsible for integrating the development, promotion and regulation of the maritime industry in the Philippines. Hi ...

eventually allowed the company to operate in other routes aside from the Lucena-Marinduque and Lucena-Marinduque-Romblon route. 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 San Pascual, officially the Municipality of San Pascual, is a municipality in the province of Masbate, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,449 people. In addition to the northern part of Burias Island, the isla ...

route. In 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been reported cases, and reported deaths, the fift ...

, the company was one of several ferry companies that assisted the Philippine government in helping locally stranded individuals return to their provinces.

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 The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

franchise, becoming the

Basilan Viva Portmasters The Basilan Starhorse, previously known as Basilan Viva Portmasters, is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Lamitan, Lamitan, Basilan. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league' ...

for the

2025 MPBL season The 2025 MPBL season is the seventh season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and its fourth under professional status. The regular season began on March 8, 2025 with the opening ceremony at the Capital Arena in Ilagan, Isabela ...

. It also planned to acquire the

Terrafirma Dyip The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

franchise beginning with the 2025–26 PBA season. However the sale was aborted. They would have competed as the "Sea Titans".

Routes

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

Vessels

Starhorse Shipping Lines operates fifteen

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:

Virgen de Peñafrancia series

* MV ''Virgen de Peñafrancia I'' * MV ''Virgen de Peñafrancia II'' * MV ''Virgen de Peñafrancia Tres Reyes'' * Starhorse MV Virgen De Penafrancia II

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 Penafrancia XI

MV ''Virgen de Peñafrancia XII'' * MV ''Virgen de Peñafrancia XV'' ew Vesselh2>

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

External links

Starhorse Shipping Lines on Facebook
{{Transportation in the Philippines Ferries of the Philippines Ferry companies of the Philippines Passenger ships of the Philippines Shipping companies of the Philippines Companies based in Quezon