Macau ferry operator TurboJET has announced it will increase the number of ferry services to 60 per day in May, up from around 50 at present.
However, due to a lack of manpower, nighttime and early morning ferry services will take more time to resume.
TurboJET’s Director of Macau Services Division, Alfred Ng, said that since the resumption of shipping between Hong Kong and Macau on 8 January, the capacity of Hong Kong’s Sheung Wan and Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal has been restored to half of what it was in the past, and the capacity of all shipping between Hong Kong and Macau has been restored to 40%.
“But it still takes some time to restore the capacity of night and early morning ferry services. Due to the lack of manpower and the need to refurbish ships, the recovery will still take some time,” Ng explained.
“The captain, like a pilot, needs to have a certain number of hours to pilot the vessel, so there is a shortage of manpower, especially for the early morning services, which need a Night Vision Officer.
“Plus the vessels have to be refurbished and submitted to the Hong Kong Marine Department for inspection, so it will take some time.”
According to Ng, TurboJET temporarily increased its services to 60 per day during the recent Easter holiday period and is now in a position to make this a regular schedule within the next few weeks.
“By that time, TurboJET will be able to operate a service to Hong Kong every 15 minutes from the Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and Taipa Ferry Terminal,” he said.
Macao Daily also reported that the Maritime and Water Affairs Bureau said the average daily passenger flow via ferry between Hong Kong and Macau during the four-day Easter holiday was 26,000, with a peak of 27,000 on 7 April. Since the resumption of passenger traffic on January 8, the average daily passenger flow has been about 13,000.
In 2019, the daily passenger flow for the Hong Kong-Macau route was about 33,000.
Ng stated his belief that a change in travel patterns by visitors to Macau, some of whom now prefer to travel by bus using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, is another reason for the decrease in passenger traffic.
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