Hong Kong’s first electric ferry is set to arrive in the city on Wednesday as part of a pilot scheme to explore the feasibility of more environmentally-friendly alternatives on the city’s waters.
The boat, which will be operated by Sun Ferry, will undergo tests by the end of the year before being put into service between North Point and Hung Hom, the Environmental and Ecology Bureau said on Monday.
Charging facilities have already been installed at the North Point Ferry Pier, the bureau said. The ferry’s battery can operate for 12 hours on an eight-hour charge.
The 35-metre ferry has capacity for 400 passengers, around the same as the traditional ferries currently operated by Sun Ferry. The ferry is also fitted with solar panels on its deck, while the interior has a bathroom and storage areas for bikes and baggage.
Vanessa Au, an assistant director of the Environmental Protection Department, told reporters on Friday that that using electric ferries would improve air quality around Victoria Harbour. Authorities would compare the efficiency of using electric and traditional ferries to inform future planning, she added.
The ferry, manufactured by a factory in Guangzhou, in mainland China, will make its way to Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Carbon neutrality by 2050
The ferry is the first of four that will arrive in Hong Kong under a HK$350 million government-subsidised pilot scheme. The other ferry operators involved will be Fortune Ferry, Coral Sea Ferry and Star Ferry.
Acting Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Diane Wong, told lawmakers in a Legislative Council meeting last Wednesday that shipbuilding works had begun for another two ferries. They were set to be delivered in the first half of 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Wong added that testing for the first electric ferry had been “anticipated to commence” last year, but the timeline was pushed back due to the “extra prudence” needed in the ferry operators’ design and tendering process.
Hong Kong has pledged to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality before 2050. An Environmental and Ecology Bureau spokesperson told HKFP last Tuesday that the city had made “clear progress,” with total greenhouse gas emissions 24 per cent less in 2022 than the peak in 2014.
A recent survey by environmental organisation Greenpeace found that while 78 per cent of Hongkongers surveyed believed it was the government’s responsibility to take the lead on combating the climate crisis, followed by energy companies and the general public, only 35 per cent trusted the government to do so.
