The ship that will serve as official galleon which will carry the image of the Señor Santo Niño (Holy Child Jesus) for the fluvial (seaborne) procession on Saturday, January 18, 2025, is a newly built ship named M/V Santo Niño-Cebu.

On September 8, 2024, a day celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as the birthdate of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the owner of the ship received an invitation from the Augustinian priests of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño to have a ship of their fleet serve as galleon for Fiesta Señor 2025.

As the shipowner’s family is a devotee of the Santo Niño, they have no qualms about accepting the invitation.

It so happened that in December 2024, the building of a ninth ship was completed. They had already assigned the name Our Lady of Hope to the ship, but because of the invitation, they had it replaced to M/V Santo Niño-Cebu.

The ship arrived at the port of Cebu City on January 13, 2025, and a blessing was set the following day.

The family believes that their petitions to the Santo Niño granted them prosperity in the shipping business despite a predicament in the 1990s when they almost went bankrupt. 

Watching the business grow to what it has achieved today speaks highly that miracles do happen, said Maximiano Fulache, shipowner.

Another circumstance which has strengthened the Fulache family's devotion to the Santo Niño is the grace of healing from cancer received by Maximiano's wife. 

M/V Santo Niño-Cebu is a passenger vessel set to sail commercially in March 2025.

The ship can accommodate at least 458 passengers, but for the fluvial (seaborne) procession only 400 passengers are allowed on board the galleon including Augustinian priests and Archdiocese of Cebu priests.

As of this writing, embellishments have been done on the galleon in preparation for one of the highlights of the 460th Fiesta Señor celebration.