Pac On open to new ferry service

The Pac On Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal may see a new ferry service as the government completes its evaluation of the facility’s transportation capacity and holds that there is room for further increase in its passenger load.
The preliminary results of an evaluation made by the Maritime Administration (CP) made available yesterday show that the Taipa infrastructure has the capacity for an increase in the number of passengers that could alleviate the burden of the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, the CP confirmed to Macau Daily Times.
The next step would be to publicly call for applications from eligible shipping companies for new ferry operations at the pier.
However CP director Susana Wong Soi Man said yesterday, quoted by the Chinese-language channel of Rádio Macau, that the authority had not received any application yet. As such no new ferry operations or new routes were decided for the time being.
But CP is currently coordinating with the Transport Bureau and other relevant government bodies to speed up the opening of the new car park next to the Pac On pier, hoping to solve the problem of insufficient parking places in the area.
Macao Dragon terminated its ferry services in Pac On last September, which means there are just two ferry companies linking the city to Hong Kong and mainland China.
Last October lawmaker Kwan Tsui Hang bemoaned the lack of competition in the industry, while the chairman of Association of Users of Macau’s Utility Companies, Cheng Chung Fai, called on the government to rearrange the ferry service market, to ensure a better service.
CotaiJet is currently the only operator linking the Pac On terminal and Hong Kong. In August, Shun Tak, which controls ferry operator TurboJet, bought rival company New World First Ferry.
In 2010 the government granted 14 ferry route permit, however three – including new routes to Zhuhai and Dongguan – were revoked as the operators missed the July deadline to launch a service. The CP director attributed the trouble to “technical problems” but, earlier this month, she stressed that those are markets that Macau would like to have a connection with.