Hong Kong Star Ferries

Sunday, December 3. 2006

The Star Ferries of Hong Kong are all diesel operated today, but do have a rich steam history. The first steam ferries appeared as early as 1888 in the Hong Kong harbor, since 1898 they run under the name Star Ferry Co, Ltd.

As far as I could find out at my recent visit to Hong Kong last week, the Celestial Star (picture) is the oldest still operating ferry boat, built in 1956. The last steam ferry, the Northerb Star, was taken out of service in 1959. A total of 13 boats seam to be still in service today; and they're not tourist attractions, but a major part of the Hong Kong public transportation system, connecting Hong Kong Island with the Kowloon peninsula.

Is it necessary to mention, that I've used the ferriy service as often as I could, sometimes just to ride the boat (one-way fare is only about 17 cents US currency)? And does anyone assume, that I've been on the fancy upper deck with air conditioning? No! The lower deck is absolutely fascinating, wooden flooring, the smell of hot oil from the 6-cylinder-diesel engines. These ferries do have everything to make an old boat buff happy.

More information about this wonderful ferry boats can be found on the Star Ferry's website's picture gallery and historical information page.

Posted by Franz Neumeier in Picture of the Week at 05:17 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

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Was recently on the Star Ferry myself, and I agree that it is by far the best view of Hong Kong. Looking forward to riding it again.

Bernard.

#1 Bernard Bear (Link) on 2006-12-03 19:30 (Reply)

Bernard, it was a great pleasure for me to meeting you in Hong Kong!

For the ones who haven't heard of Bernard Bear so far, he is a lovely little teddy bear who loves to travel. He publishes his adventures in the weblog http://bernard-bear.blogspot.com/ and in extended versions on his homepage http://bernardbear.tripod.com/. My favorite story is the one about climbing up the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

Greetings to Ottawa, or where ever you are at this moment, Bernard

#1.1 Franz Neumeier (Link) on 2006-12-04 13:13 (Reply)

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