Some of them failed, but this is the perfect one now.

MV St. Pope John Paul II was known in Japan as the New Miyako and she had a sister ship named New Yamato. They were the top ships then of Hankyu Ferry, one of the Japanese long-haul ferries. As a note, “Miyako” and “Yamato” are legendary names in Japan and that is actually a sign of their status. The New Yamato was built in 1983 and the New Miyako in 1984 and both came to the Philippines but though sister ships their superstructures were not really very identical when they were fielded here. Hankyu Ferry disposed of the sister ships at the same time and the New Yamato went to Sulpicio Lines as the Princess of the Universe and the New Miyako went to William, Gothong & Aboitiz (WG&A) as the SuperFerry 12.

The New Miyako was built by Kanda Shipbuilding Company in their Fujiwara yard in Japan. She was actually launched in December of 1983 but her completion took until January of 1984. Her permanent ID is IMO 8217051. She measures 173.0 meters in length over-all, 165.3 meters in length between perpendiculars, 28.8 meters in width and 14.3 meters in depth (that’s deep!). Her original Gross Register Tonnage was 11,914 tons and her DWT was 5,009 tons. She then had two car decks but only one passenger deck with some passenger facilities in the top deck including in the false center funnel. That was the meaning of a Japan “carferry” in the 1980’s.

This ship has a bulbous stem and a transom stern and the usual two masts. Being twin-engined, she has two side funnels. She is powered by a pair of Mitsubishi-MAN diesel engines totalling 24,000 horsepower and her design speed was 21 knots (that means her current speed of 19-19.5 is remarkable because that is not far off from her design speed years ago!). Originally, she was provided with car ramps at the bow and at the stern. However, on refitting, a pair of quarter-ramps were fitted, on the bow and at the stern at the starboard side. An inside ramp connects the two car decks (not elevators unlike in others which is more cumbersome). The ship has a capacity of over 200 TEU but in Japan she mainly carried trucks. In lane-meters, her capacity is about 2,000. The ship’s route is from Shikoku to the Kansai region of Japan
In refitting to a passenger-ferry for Philippine use, one level of her car deck was converted into two levels of passenger accommodation. Hence, the ship became a a three passenger-deck ship when she was fielded here. Her local passenger capacity then rose to some 2,800 passengers. This was the time when local passenger liners can still pack it in and had to turn away passengers during peak seasons.

The passengers had access through wing-type passenger ramps on the starboard side. The ship being tall and the highest classes on the top level, boarding would have been an exercise for many passengers except that the ship has an escalator. Like other local liner designs, that led to the front desk/information counter and a lobby. The ship had many levels of accommodation with Suite being the highest followed by Stateroom, First Class Cabin, Tourist, Economy Deluxe and Economy in descending order. Being big, the ship had many walkways, lounges and promenade areas including the sundeck. There were many shops and it even had a wading pool. Restaurants were also segregated into classes as in three, the usual, but the kiosks, stores and bars were for all.

(Credits to Philippine Ship Spotters Society PSSS)