The Maritime Industry Authority will investigate two vessels operating at the Dalahican Port in Lucena City.

This comes after a passenger's complaint posted in social media regarding the poor services provided by two vessel companies that operate on the Lucena to Marinduque route. The passenger claimed that they were not served fairly, causing them to wait for hours.

In a post on Friday, Meta (Facebook) user Lorie Licop said she suffered hassle when she was being passed on by personnel of vessels Starhorse Shipping Line and Montenegro Shipping Lines on Friday.

Licop posted that the departure time of the said vessels was deliberately delayed because of the lack or scarcity of passengers.

The schedule of departure should be 8:30 a.m. but was delayed to 10:30 a.m.

“Kung hindi lang naming kailangang sumakay ng barko para makauwi ng Marinduque, kaya nga kami sumasakay sa inyo, mga walanghiya kayo. Sa amin kayo nagapakabuhay, tapos ganito nyo kami pahihirapan,” Licop said in her post.

With this, Marina spokesman Lui Delos Santos said they have already reached out to Licop to know the extent of the issue.

“On these instances, Marina will investigate and if warranted, we issue a show cause order versus the vessel management. If the details are not complete, then usually there is plain denial on the involved shipping companies,” he told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

“We have reached out to our Regional Office in Batangas City. We have likewise sent a message to the complainant requesting further information about the incident, like, when this happened (date and time) and what port. The details are vital so we can act appropriately on the complaint,” Delos Santos added.

It was not the first time that the two shipping firms were hit by netizens, as they got involved in the alleged ship rerouting scheme on 1 January, causing trouble and long queue of passengers, enduring the scorching heat of the sun in Balanacan Port in Mogpog, Marinduque.