HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
During the year it was found necessary to extend the operation of the Wanchai services up to 1 a.m. every morning. The demand for the Shamshuipo service to the Western district has grown considerably and double-ended ferries are now
necessary.
The company operates early morning ferries which carry fish and vegetables from the islands of Cheung Chau and Tai O to Aberdeen, and thus enable the fishermen and farmers to send their products direct to market. The New Territories services, which carry over a million passengers per annum, have also been increased during the year, and on Sundays and public holidays, during the summer, there are now fifteen sailings to Cheung Chau, twelve to Silvermine Bay, four to Ping Chau and three to Kap Sui Mun, Castle Peak, Tung Chung and Tai O. It was found necessary to hold extra vessels in reserve to carry excess passengers on these routes.
The visit, in August, of the U.S.S. battleship "New Jersey", which anchored in Junk Bay, was the occasion for special excursion services to the ship. During the three days she was here, over 38,000 passengers were carried by the ten ferries in use for this purpose. In December, a visit from a sister ship the U.S.S. "Wisconsin" also attracted large numbers, and kept the excursion service busy.
A total of thirty-nine ferries are now in service. Another new double-ended diesel ferry, of the largest type, arrived from Scotland towards the end of the year and is being reassembled locally. A smaller 400 passenger steel ferry is also under construction by the same firm and both these vessels are expected to be completed for service in 1954.
Public Works
To accommodate the proposed new City Hall, and provide an adequate concourse area for new passenger ferry piers, to be constructed in the near future, some nine acres of land are
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