Not quite. Some of them are being used for ferrying the trucks of LPG gas vendors across the harbour as these vehicles are forbidden to use the tunnels. For shell vendors they are also using the service for their trucks to going to the Shell LPG depot in Apleichau, right next to South Horizons.
At least one of the ferries had been converted to cater for leisure boat trips around the harbour for locals & tourists alike.
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2010-10-11 06:05.
Good to hear that those ferry boats are being put in good use after their retirement from the across harbor service. Those boats looked like very well built and they should last forever.
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2010-10-11 06:14.
TX David for your links.
When I was a kid in HK during the 60s, I believe there were only 2 vehicular ferry lines....please correct me if I am mistaken. I remember the wait to go across the harbor was just horrendous as there was NO bridges and no tunnels.
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2010-10-11 12:57.
Oh, I forgot about that part. Can you imagine if the vehicular deck caught on fire...... it would be disastrous!? Knock on wood, if I recall correctly, that never happened with all those crossings - same went for the passenger ferries, YMT and the Star Ferry alike.
I believe the sinking of "Fat Shin" must be the worst maritime disaster in HK with the heaviest death tolls. I was NOT in HK during that period, so my question was why would "Fat Shin" leave port in such a fierce typhoon? I research some archive articles but the reason was never mentioned.
Under different period of time, there used to be quite a few vehicular ferry route:
1. Central to Jordan (passenger on upper deck)
2. Central to Jordan (double decker vehicular ferries)
3. North Point to Kowloon City (double decker vehicular ferries)
4. North Point to Kwun Tong (double decker vehicular ferries)
5. Sai Wan Ho to Kwon Tong (sorry, could not recall the details, but very likely using double decker vehicular ferries)
6. Central or Kowloon to and from Discovery Bay (special ferry service, odd schedules, primarily for logistics and tenants moving in/out)
7. Central or Kowloon to Silver Mind Bay, special ferry service for Lantau residents, odd schedules, had to be arranged. Now defunct since the Lantau North Highway was inaugurated.
8. Central or Kowloon to and from Apleichau Shell LPG Depot (still exist)
I am uncertain if there was a bit more. Unable to recall right now.
Permalink Submitted by IDJ on Mon, 2010-10-11 16:13.
Reno Tommy
The vessel was the 'Fat Shan' a HK-Macau ferry that was swept across to Lantau Island during the very fierce Typhoon Rose in August 1971. About 30 other vessels and large cargo ships were also beached or grounded all along the western coast of Lantau. Of the 92 people on board the 'Fat Shan' only 4 survived. The laid-up Macau ferry 'Lee Hong' was also lost in the storm and not found for a few days even though it had sunk within the harbour limits if I recall correctly. The large loss of life on these ferries was due to the practise of carrying all available crew members during a typhoon. This effectively doubled the crews, many of whom lived on board full time. The other well known HK-Macau ferry the 'Macau' was beached at the end of Lantau opposite Ma Wan island. I have some photographs taken at the time of the aftermath. IDJ
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2010-10-11 16:54.
The large loss of life on these ferries was due to the practise of carrying all available crew members during a typhoon. This effectively doubled the crews,
According to your statement above, why would the ferries practise of carrying all available crew members sailing across the ocean during a fierce typhoon instead of berthing the vessel at the safety of the pier inside the harbor? Yes, I can clearly see the advantage of sending vessels out into the ocean for an oncoming tsunami but not for a typhoon!!! Is this still a general practice?
When I left HK in the 1960s, I am sure Jordon to Central was the ONLY route and I had never seen a double decker vehicular ferry - they must've entered service later. However, I assume as the population of HK increased, more and more routes were added to alleviate the congestion.
Double deck buses were introduced to HK island not long prior to my departure from HK. The first few months, the neon signs from businesses in WanChai and North Point had proven to become quite a hazard to the upper deck riders......several passengers had lost their hands by sticking them out of the window. After those accidents, the government quickly regulated how far a neon sign could extend out onto the roadways.
Permalink Submitted by IDJ on Mon, 2010-10-11 17:24.
The many ships which chose not to ride out the typhoon in the open ocean were anchored/berthed within what their Masters thought would be a safe anchorage during the passing of the storm. The ferries were not out in the open ocean. All the shipping that ended up on Lantau in Typhoon Rose had dragged their anchors/moorings and had no choice where they ended up. No doubt there were also a number of collisions between ships during the storm.
As I remember, the Star Ferries went into the Typhoon Shelters, I guess the other Ferries were too big.
You have to realize that the Harbour is not sheltered, so it wouldn't be "safe" to tie up at the pier. I think the 100mph winds and 10 foot waves would tear them free from their moorings, probably damaging the pier, and sinking the ferry.
I believe it is normal practice for other vessels to leave port to ride out the storm.
I remember my Father talking about a ship that broke it's moorings during a storm, which dropped it's anchor, and came very close to dragging up all the phone cables in the cable reserve between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
As far as I could recall, at least two piers were damaged in some typhoon incidents. I could not recall if it was Typhoon Rose, but one of them involved a cargo ship ramming head on to the East Star Ferry Pier in Tsimshatsui. The incident involved another cargo ship ramming another pier with a conveyor system near Kennedy Town. The bow of both ships were badly damaged. Star Ferry Pier was sort of rebuilt. But the pier in Kennedy Town was damaged and the conveyer system demolished, never to be used again.
Yes indeed, I still remember how powerful the typhoons were when I was a kid. Singal 10 could be very scary.
I can understand ships could be dragged around causing them colliding into each other. My question is, knowing the potential danger, why would the owner of "Fat Shan" decide to carry a full crew on the ship during such danger? Wouldn't the crew members be better off seeking shelter on land, e.g. staying with their relatives or at some cheapy hotels for a couple of days? If the ship must ride out a fierce typhoon in open water, wouldn't you think that it should be done with a skeleton crew on board to minimize casualties just in case? In light of the size of "Fat Shan", I can hardly believe it would require all 92 crew members to operate the vessel. I am really saddened that all those ppl died so unnecessarily. Was there an investigation on this incident?
Sorry for drifting away from the topic a bit but I was the one who started the thread so at least nobody can accuse me of hijacking it.(g)
Permalink Submitted by IDJ on Thu, 2010-10-21 17:00.
A few of the redundant HYF vehicle ferries were sold elsewhere. In the early 1970s, possibly two? were sailed to Malaysia, probably Penang where similar vessels were in use. Preparations were made for the sea voyage by constructing heavy timber walls around the open vehicle decks to prevent them being overwhelmed by waves. Even in HK harbour you could get wet feet if standing at the front even in mild weather. The old captain of at least one was a well known veteran of the 'China Coast'. As the seas outside of Hong Kong at this time were decidedly the juristiction of the Chinese communists and the coast of Vietnam was effectively a war zone, they must have been interesting but perilous voyages. Pictures should exist of the preparations in the HKF's successor's business archives or the Marine Department's who must have authorised the voyages.
Wow, I can't believe they would sail those ferries across the South China Sea and the Pacific with so little little modification/protection. I thought for sure they were shipped via container cargo ships. I sure didn't want to be one of the crew members. That was crazy! I guess safety standards in HK weren't as high as in the USA. I doubt it strongly if the US Coast Guard would ever approve such a vessel to go across the ocean with an open bow and the lower deck being so low to the water.
![2-4 Li Kwan Avenue [c.1933- ]](https://old.gwulo.com/sites/gwulo.com/files/styles/medium/public/thumbnails/image/img_20210228_1041555.jpg?itok=uUWMfAP9 "2-4 Li Kwan Avenue [c.1933- ]")
Re: Vehicle Ferries
Hi there,
Not quite. Some of them are being used for ferrying the trucks of LPG gas vendors across the harbour as these vehicles are forbidden to use the tunnels. For shell vendors they are also using the service for their trucks to going to the Shell LPG depot in Apleichau, right next to South Horizons.
At least one of the ferries had been converted to cater for leisure boat trips around the harbour for locals & tourists alike.
Best Regards,
T
Re: Vehicle Ferries
Here's a list of some of the Vehicular Ferry piers we've recorded. Several of the entries for piers have photos of the ferries - click their links to view.
Good to hear
Good to hear that those ferry boats are being put in good use after their retirement from the across harbor service. Those boats looked like very well built and they should last forever.
Thanks for your info.
TX
TX David for your links.
When I was a kid in HK during the 60s, I believe there were only 2 vehicular ferry lines....please correct me if I am mistaken. I remember the wait to go across the harbor was just horrendous as there was NO bridges and no tunnels.
first chinese sentence
The first Chinese sentence I ever learned was the one droned on the Car Ferry - as I remembered it, it sounded like:
"Cheng, hey cheng daap haak jyu yi, Joi hei cheng syun seung. Cheng maan kap yin."
The English was: "May I have your attention please. The is no smoking on the vehicular deck"
No smoking
Oh, I forgot about that part. Can you imagine if the vehicular deck caught on fire...... it would be disastrous!? Knock on wood, if I recall correctly, that never happened with all those crossings - same went for the passenger ferries, YMT and the Star Ferry alike.
I believe the sinking of "Fat Shin" must be the worst maritime disaster in HK with the heaviest death tolls. I was NOT in HK during that period, so my question was why would "Fat Shin" leave port in such a fierce typhoon? I research some archive articles but the reason was never mentioned.
RenoTommy
Vehicular ferry routes
Hi there,
Under different period of time, there used to be quite a few vehicular ferry route:
1. Central to Jordan (passenger on upper deck)
2. Central to Jordan (double decker vehicular ferries)
3. North Point to Kowloon City (double decker vehicular ferries)
4. North Point to Kwun Tong (double decker vehicular ferries)
5. Sai Wan Ho to Kwon Tong (sorry, could not recall the details, but very likely using double decker vehicular ferries)
6. Central or Kowloon to and from Discovery Bay (special ferry service, odd schedules, primarily for logistics and tenants moving in/out)
7. Central or Kowloon to Silver Mind Bay, special ferry service for Lantau residents, odd schedules, had to be arranged. Now defunct since the Lantau North Highway was inaugurated.
8. Central or Kowloon to and from Apleichau Shell LPG Depot (still exist)
I am uncertain if there was a bit more. Unable to recall right now.
Best Regards,
T
Macau Ferry Fat Shan
Reno Tommy
The vessel was the 'Fat Shan' a HK-Macau ferry that was swept across to Lantau Island during the very fierce Typhoon Rose in August 1971. About 30 other vessels and large cargo ships were also beached or grounded all along the western coast of Lantau. Of the 92 people on board the 'Fat Shan' only 4 survived. The laid-up Macau ferry 'Lee Hong' was also lost in the storm and not found for a few days even though it had sunk within the harbour limits if I recall correctly. The large loss of life on these ferries was due to the practise of carrying all available crew members during a typhoon. This effectively doubled the crews, many of whom lived on board full time. The other well known HK-Macau ferry the 'Macau' was beached at the end of Lantau opposite Ma Wan island. I have some photographs taken at the time of the aftermath. IDJ
Little confused
The large loss of life on these ferries was due to the practise of carrying all available crew members during a typhoon. This effectively doubled the crews,
*************************************************************
First of all thanks for your reply.
According to your statement above, why would the ferries practise of carrying all available crew members sailing across the ocean during a fierce typhoon instead of berthing the vessel at the safety of the pier inside the harbor? Yes, I can clearly see the advantage of sending vessels out into the ocean for an oncoming tsunami but not for a typhoon!!! Is this still a general practice?
Ferry routes
When I left HK in the 1960s, I am sure Jordon to Central was the ONLY route and I had never seen a double decker vehicular ferry - they must've entered service later. However, I assume as the population of HK increased, more and more routes were added to alleviate the congestion.
Double deck buses were introduced to HK island not long prior to my departure from HK. The first few months, the neon signs from businesses in WanChai and North Point had proven to become quite a hazard to the upper deck riders......several passengers had lost their hands by sticking them out of the window. After those accidents, the government quickly regulated how far a neon sign could extend out onto the roadways.
All hands to the deck!
The many ships which chose not to ride out the typhoon in the open ocean were anchored/berthed within what their Masters thought would be a safe anchorage during the passing of the storm. The ferries were not out in the open ocean. All the shipping that ended up on Lantau in Typhoon Rose had dragged their anchors/moorings and had no choice where they ended up. No doubt there were also a number of collisions between ships during the storm.
Why don't the Ferries Tie up?
As I remember, the Star Ferries went into the Typhoon Shelters, I guess the other Ferries were too big.
You have to realize that the Harbour is not sheltered, so it wouldn't be "safe" to tie up at the pier. I think the 100mph winds and 10 foot waves would tear them free from their moorings, probably damaging the pier, and sinking the ferry.
I believe it is normal practice for other vessels to leave port to ride out the storm.
I remember my Father talking about a ship that broke it's moorings during a storm, which dropped it's anchor, and came very close to dragging up all the phone cables in the cable reserve between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
Alun
Harbour cruises
Harbour Cruise - Bauhinia still run four of the vehicular ferries as a combined dining/sightseeing experience. All double-deckers.
http://www.cruise.com.hk/Flash_opening.html
Re: Typhoon, damaged piers.....
Hi there,
As far as I could recall, at least two piers were damaged in some typhoon incidents. I could not recall if it was Typhoon Rose, but one of them involved a cargo ship ramming head on to the East Star Ferry Pier in Tsimshatsui. The incident involved another cargo ship ramming another pier with a conveyor system near Kennedy Town. The bow of both ships were badly damaged. Star Ferry Pier was sort of rebuilt. But the pier in Kennedy Town was damaged and the conveyer system demolished, never to be used again.
Best Regards,
T
Minimizing casualties
Yes indeed, I still remember how powerful the typhoons were when I was a kid. Singal 10 could be very scary.
I can understand ships could be dragged around causing them colliding into each other. My question is, knowing the potential danger, why would the owner of "Fat Shan" decide to carry a full crew on the ship during such danger? Wouldn't the crew members be better off seeking shelter on land, e.g. staying with their relatives or at some cheapy hotels for a couple of days? If the ship must ride out a fierce typhoon in open water, wouldn't you think that it should be done with a skeleton crew on board to minimize casualties just in case? In light of the size of "Fat Shan", I can hardly believe it would require all 92 crew members to operate the vessel. I am really saddened that all those ppl died so unnecessarily. Was there an investigation on this incident?
Sorry for drifting away from the topic a bit but I was the one who started the thread so at least nobody can accuse me of hijacking it.(g)
Vehicle Ferries
A few of the redundant HYF vehicle ferries were sold elsewhere. In the early 1970s, possibly two? were sailed to Malaysia, probably Penang where similar vessels were in use. Preparations were made for the sea voyage by constructing heavy timber walls around the open vehicle decks to prevent them being overwhelmed by waves. Even in HK harbour you could get wet feet if standing at the front even in mild weather. The old captain of at least one was a well known veteran of the 'China Coast'. As the seas outside of Hong Kong at this time were decidedly the juristiction of the Chinese communists and the coast of Vietnam was effectively a war zone, they must have been interesting but perilous voyages. Pictures should exist of the preparations in the HKF's successor's business archives or the Marine Department's who must have authorised the voyages.
Wow, I can't believe they
Wow, I can't believe they would sail those ferries across the South China Sea and the Pacific with so little little modification/protection. I thought for sure they were shipped via container cargo ships. I sure didn't want to be one of the crew members. That was crazy! I guess safety standards in HK weren't as high as in the USA. I doubt it strongly if the US Coast Guard would ever approve such a vessel to go across the ocean with an open bow and the lower deck being so low to the water.
HK ferry history
Amazing read on the history of ferries in HK here:
http://commons.ln.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=his_etd