### Ferry Services Ordinance 《渡輪服務條例》

4. Prohibition of operation of ferry service except under a franchise or licence
(1) Subject to section 5, no person shall operate or permit the operation of a vessel on a ferry service except under a franchise or a licence. 
(2) Subject to section 5, no person shall operate or manage or assist in the management of a ferry service unless that service is operated under a franchise or licence. 
(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 6. (Amended E.R. 4 of 2021)

5. Exempted ferry services
(1) This Part does not apply to a tour service, a cargo service, an employees’ service or a permitted service.
(2) In this section—
cargo service (載貨服務) means a service for the carriage of cargo by lighters or cargo boats;
employees’ service (運載僱員服務) means a service provided by an employer solely for the carriage of persons employed by him;
permitted service (獲准許的服務) means a service—
(a) permitted by the Director of Marine in writing for the carriage of passengers between piers and moored ships, or for the carriage of passengers for special purposes designated by the Director of Marine; or
(b) for the carriage of passengers across Victoria port between such hours as the Commissioner may by notice in the Gazette approve and operated by a ferry vessel; (Amended 43 of 1999 s. 91)

tour service (遊覽服務) means a service—
(a) for the carriage of passengers for reward at separate fares;
(b) whereby the passengers travel together on a vessel from one or more places of embarkation on a journey that ends at the place or places of embarkation or ends at a place from which transport on land back to such place or places of embarkation is provided as part of the service;
(c) whereby the passengers do not disembark during the journey, or disembark solely for the purpose of activities arranged or promoted as part of the service; and
(d) whereby all the passengers are carried for the greater part of the journey.

(3) For the purposes of this Ordinance, a payment made by a person entitling him to be carried as a passenger on a ferry vessel shall be treated as a separate fare notwithstanding that it is made in consideration of other matters in addition to the journey and irrespective of the person by or to whom it is made.

### Ferry Services Ordinance 《渡輪服務條例》

6. Grant of franchises
(1) Subject to this Ordinance, the Chief Executive in Council may grant to— (Amended 28 of 2012 ss. 912 & 920)
(a) any company within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622);
(b) a registered non-Hong Kong company as defined by section 2(1) of that Ordinance;
(c) a company registered under Part 17 of that Ordinance; or
(d) a company registered under Part IX of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32) as in force from time to time before the commencement date* of section 2 of Schedule 9 to the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622),

a franchise that confers the right to operate a ferry service between such points as are specified by the Chief Executive in Council. (Amended 28 of 2012 ss. 912 & 920)
(2) A franchise may confer on the grantee the exclusive right to operate a franchised service. 
(3) A franchise—
(a) may be granted following a public tender or in such other manner as the Chief Executive in Council thinks fit; 
(b) shall be subject to such conditions as the Chief Executive in Council specifies, which may include, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, conditions in respect of the management and commercial development of piers, pier rental and the maintenance of a proper and efficient ferry service generally; and 
(c) shall be subject to the provisions of this Ordinance as it may from time to time be amended. 
(4) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Ordinance, a franchise may, with the written consent of the grantee, be amended by the Chief Executive in Council. (Amended L.N. 387 of 1987)
(Amended 62 of 1999 s. 3) Editorial Note:
* Commencement date : 3 March 2014.

### Ferry Services Ordinance 《渡輪服務條例》

7. Periods of franchise and extensions thereof
(1) A franchise may be granted for an initial period not exceeding 15 years, and in calculating a franchise period no account shall be taken of any change made from time to time in the franchised services operated under the franchise.
(2) The Chief Executive in Council may, at the request in writing of a grantee, if he is satisfied that the grantee is capable of maintaining a proper and efficient ferry service and it is in the public interest to continue the franchised service or services, extend the franchise for a period or periods not exceeding 15 years beginning on the date on which the extension is granted. (Amended 62 of 1999 s. 3)
(3) A request under subsection (2) may be made—
(a) not more than once in each 5 year period during the franchise period, the first of such periods to be treated as commencing on the date of the granting of the franchise and subsequent periods as commencing on the fifth anniversary of the date of commencement of the prior period; and
(b) in any case not less than 2 years before the expiration of the franchise period.

8. Restriction on transfer of franchise
A grantee shall not transfer its franchise, or any part thereof, without the approval of the Chief Executive in Council.
(Amended 62 of 1999 s. 3)

9. Directors of grantee companies
It shall be a condition of the franchise that, unless the Chief Executive in Council otherwise permits, a majority of the directors of a grantee shall be individuals ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and shall participate actively as directors in the management of the grantee.
(Amended 28 of 1998 s. 2; 62 of 1999 s. 3)