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COMMUNICATIONS
(22.1 per cent) respectively over the previous year. Services to outlying districts call at Ma Wan, Castle Peak, Tung Chung, Sha Lo Wan and Tai O; Peng Chau, Silver Mine Bay, Chi Ma Wan and Cheung Chau, Tsing Yi Island and Tsuen Wan and Lamma Island. There is also a service from Tai Po Kau to Tap Mun in Tolo Harbour. During the year the company ran a popular ex- cursion trip round Hong Kong Island leaving four times weekly from Jubilee Street ferry pier. The journey takes approximately two and a half hours and the fare is $2.50 (equivalent to 3s 2d sterling or 45 cents US).
Seven new single-ended ferry vessels entered service in 1963. The Man Loong and Man Kit are sister ships with length overall of 84 feet 9 inches, breadth of 21 feet 6 inches and passenger capacity of 381. The Man Yuet, constructed to carry out the dual role of a cruise ship and ferry vessel, is 141 feet in length overall and 27 feet in breadth and has a carrying capacity of 620 passengers. The other four are identical single-ended passenger ferries. They have a length of 114 feet and a breadth of 25 feet 6 inches and each is capable of carrying 628 passengers. In addi- tion, there are three ferries under construction for the company. They are a sister ship to the Man Yuet and two 130 feet double- ended passenger ferries.
The Star Ferry Company Ltd is authorized by Ordinance to run a passenger ferry service across the narrowest part of the harbour between the commercial centres of Victoria City on Hong Kong Island and the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula. There are nine vessels in operation with one under construction at the end of the year. There is a daily service of 21 hours and during peak periods a ferry leaves from each side of the harbour every two-and-a-half minutes on the seven minute journey. The service continues until 3 a.m. During 1963 there were 181,529 crossings and 49.2 million passengers were carried, an increase of 2.6 million (5.5 per cent) over 1962. The highest daily total was 171,469. The company's vessels steamed 145,223 miles.
POST OFFICE
Six new post offices were opened in the Colony in 1963, bringing the total to 35; there was also a welcome increase of new offices to serve the urban areas. On the Island, Kennedy Town Post
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