TurboJET

**TurboJET** (**噴射飛航**) is the cross-border ferry service brand of Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management Limited, a joint venture between Shun Tak Holdings and CTS Hong Kong in 1999, provides fast, reliable and comfortable sea transport services to and from major destinations in the Pearl River Delta, including Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen.

As one of the largest high-speed ferry operators in Asia, TurboJET is also the only operator to provide 24-hour high-speed ferry services between Hong Kong and Macao, and holds a leading position in the Hong Kong-Macau route market.

To cater for passengers' connecting flights at the airport, all TurboJET sailings to and from Hong Kong International Airport or Shenzhen Fuyong Pier are assigned flight numbers and use the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airline code 8S, which is also shared with Macau HK Airport Direct closed area shuttle bus.

## History

In 1961, Shun Tak Ferry Company Limited was established, and the following year, when the Macau Tourist and Entertainment Company Limited was granted a gaming franchise for the Macau region, a ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau was launched, which often took up to three hours to complete. It was not until 1964 that Shun Tak Shipping was the first to introduce the first hydrofoil, which shortened the journey to about 75 minutes and greatly facilitated the connection between the two places. Shun Tak Enterprises Limited was established in 1972 to provide high-speed ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau through its subsidiary, Far East Hydrofoil Company Limited. The first jetfoil, the *Madeira*, entered service in 1975, further reducing the journey time between Hong Kong and Macau to one hour.

In 1990, Shun Tak Enterprises was renamed Shun Tak Holdings Limited to reflect the diversification of the Group's businesses. Shun Tak Shipping Company Limited, a subsidiary of Shun Tak Enterprises, started to operate licensed ferry services within Hong Kong on 1 April 1999, taking over the Central - Tuen Mun Route from HYF, as well as the Central - Tai O Route on holidays.

### TurboJET revamping image

In June 1999, Shun Tak Group and CTS Parkview Company Ltd completed a merger of their shipping businesses to create TurboJET, a brand name for providing quality marine transport services to Hong Kong and Macau, which is operated and managed by a joint venture company, Shun Tak CTS Shipping & Investment Company Limited.

In 2003, TurboJET launched the "Airport TurboJET" brand to provide cross-regional ferry services connecting major international airports in the Pearl River Delta, which was subsequently renamed "TurboJET Airport Route" following the company's corporate image change to further strengthen the Group's ferry business and market leadership by connecting passengers from Macau and Shenzhen to the Hong Kong International Airport. Three years later, a joint venture company of the Group signed an agreement with the Airport Authority Hong Kong to provide management services for the SkyPier, a permanent cross-boundary ferry terminal at the airport.

Shun Tak CTS Shipping Investment announced on 11 August 2011 that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with New World First Holdings Limited to acquire its entire shareholding in NWFF, including the transfer of its high-speed passenger vessels and the concession of Hong Kong - Macau routes granted by the Macau government, for a total consideration of $350 million, which means that TurboJET's Hong Kong service point for ferry routes between urban Hong Kong and Macau were expanded from the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal to the China Ferry Terminal from 1 October 2011 and taking over the Kowloon - Macau Route.

### Drastic ridership decrease following the opening of HZMB

With the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) in October 2018 and the impact of Hong Kong's anti-amendment campaign, the Shun Tak Group's 2018 annual report pointed out that TurboJET's passenger volume dropped sharply by 20%, mainly due to and overall passenger load dropped after the opening of the HZMB. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the number of passengers travelling in and out of Hong Kong via the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal slipped from about 910,000 in May last year to 640,000 in November last year. As a result, TurboJET's Human Resources Department has issued a basic salary adjustment notice, in which employees with a monthly salary of $70,000 or above would have their salaries reduced by 12 per cent, those with a monthly salary of $30,000 to $70,000 would have their salaries reduced by 10 per cent, those with a monthly salary of $10,000 to $30,000 would have their salaries reduced by 8 per cent, and only those earning $10,000 per month or less would not be subject to any adjustment. The adjusted pay took effect on 1 February.

On 6 March 2020, Shun Tak Holdings and CTS Hong Kong each entered into a sale and purchase agreement through their respective subsidiaries to transform "Shun Tak CTS Shipping Investment" into a new cross-border transportation platform, combining the ferry and passenger bus operations owned by each of Shun Tak and CTS Hong Kong, to provide cross-border transportation services in the Pearl River Delta region. Upon completion of the reorganisation in July, Shun Tak CTS Shipping Investment became a jointly owned company of Shun Tak Group and CTS Hong Kong. Under the shadow of the epidemic, the shipping division operated for only 34 days in the year and incurred a heavy loss of HK$300 million.

## Service scope

### Discontinued routres

#### Turbo Cat

 Tuen Mun - Macau Route | Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal ↔ Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal

## Vessel fleet

### Hong Kong - Macau ferries

A total of 25 vessels are in service. Eight of them are specially modified "Premier Jetfoils", with a higher proportion of luxury seats than ordinary vessels, and the groundbreaking introduction of "Premier Class" cabins, which not only allow passengers to enjoy exclusive VIP lounges while waiting for the ferry, but also allow passengers to take any flights on the same day, priority embarkation, customised catering and land transfer services. At present, only the Macau Ferry Terminal-Macau route has the "Premier Jetfoil" service, please refer to the Hong Kong route for details.

There are also three un-converted jetfoils, which in most cases only operate on Hong Kong routes. The remaining 14 are unconverted catamarans, which mainly operate on the Hong Kong routes but can actually operate on the Kowloon, Airport and Tuen Mun routes and support these routes on a daily basis.

#### Jetfoils

The Boeing Jetfoil 929 is a monohull hydrofoil of the former Far East Hydrofoils/Far East Jetfoils fleet, and is a TurboJET royalty model. The 24.44m long, 267-tonne vessel with a crew of 190-243 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Allison 501KF gas turbines for the waterjet propellers, and runs on diesel fuel (paraffin until the late 1990s), with a maximum speed of 45/47 knots, and was built in the USA by Boeing. It currently operates mainly between Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal and Macau and are registered in Hong Kong.

#### PS-30 Hydrofoil Jet

The monohull hydrofoil **PS-30** belongs to the ex-Far East Hydrofoil/Far East Jetfoil fleet. The 27.8-metre long, 303-tonne vessel with a crew of 260 is equipped with two Rolls-Royce Allison 501KF gas turbines to power the waterjet propellers and has a maximum speed of 45 knots. It was built by Shanghai Xinnan Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of the Boeing-authorised China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The vessel mainly operates sailings between Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal and Macau. After decommissioning, the vessel was idle at the shipyard until late September 2020, when it was towed to the neighbouring Wang Tak Machinery & Iron Works for dismantling. the vessel was registered in Hong Kong.

 Balsa
北星

#### FoilCat Catamaran hydrofoil

FoilCat catamaran hydrofoil, 35 metres long, 561 tonnes, 377/378 crew, two General Electric LM500 gas turbines to power the waterjet thrusters, 50 knots top speed, built by Norwegian Kvaerner Fjellstrand as part of the former Far East Hydrofoil/Far East Jetfoil fleet. Currently, they mainly operate between Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal and Macau. Registered in Hong Kong.

#### FlyingCat Cataraman

The **FlyingCat** catamaran is 40 metres long, 479 tonnes, crew of 303, powered by two 2000 kW MTU 16V 396 diesel engines for the waterjet propulsion. With a speed of 35 knots, the Flying Cat catamaran, built by Singapore sub-shipyard of Norwegian Kvaerner Fjellstrand, is part of the former Turbo Cat fleet. Currently, it mainly operates between Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal and Hong Kong International Airport to Macau. Registered in Hong Kong.

#### TriCat Trimaran/Catamaran

The **TriCat** Wave Piercing catamaran, also known by TurboJET as a trimaran/Super Premier catamaran, belongs to the former Turbo Cat fleet. It is 44.9/45.0 metres in length, and has a weight of 602 tonnes and a crew of 328/331, carrying 2 SolarSolar Taurus gas turbines to power the water jet thrusters, with a maximum speed of 45 knots (52 knots unladen). Universal MK 2001-2008 were built by FBM Marine in the United Kingdom, while Universal MK 2009 and 2010 were built by Pequot River in the United States. Regarding the design of the exhaust pipes, the aft exhaust pipes of Astronautics 2001-2005 are shorter, while those of Universal MK 2006-2010 are taller. Currently, it mainly operates between Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal and Hong Kong International Airport to Macau, and occasionally between Kowloon China Ferry Terminal and Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal to Macau. Registered in Hong Kong.

#### Austal Cataraman

The **Austal 48** Catamaran is 47.5 metres long and has a weight of 695 tonnes and a crew 414/418, powered by four MTU 16V 4000 diesel engines of 2,320 kW each to power the water jet propellers, 39-44 knots (up to 49 knots unloaded), constructed by the Australian Austal shipyard. The Universal MK 2014 currently operates mainly between Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal and Kowloon China Ferry Terminal and Macau. Registered in Hong Kong.

### Routes between Kowloon, Tuen Mun and Macau

A total of six vessels are in service. This fleet, together with the Hong Kong-based Universal MK 2014, which was acquired from New World First Ferry (NWFF) in 2011, mainly operates on the Kowloon China Ferry Terminal - Macau route operated by TurboJET's NWFF (Macau). The fleet has also operated the Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal to Macau route during the operating period of the route.

#### Austal Cataraman

The **Austal 48** catamarans have specifications broadly similar to those of the above-mentioned Universal MK 2014, which belongs to the Hong Kong route. Among them, Universal MK 2011-2013 and 2015-2017 are now mainly operating between Kowloon China Ferry Terminal and Macau. Registered in Hong Kong.

## Ridership

In September 2019, when Shun Tak Holdings (0242) just released its results for the year ending June 2019, shipping recorded a loss of HK$70 million, compared to a profit of $186 million in the same period in 2018. Shun Tak's TurboJET Hong Kong and Macau routes carried 4.6 million passengers, compared to 6.7 million in the same period of 2018, a significant drop of 32 per cent. Shun Tak also candidly admitted that "with the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2018, which has driven changes in travel patterns, the Group's passenger ferry business between Macau and Hong Kong has been affected."

In 2020, Choi Leung-pi (蔡良丕), vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Seamen's Union, cited TurboJET's claim that it had suffered a drop in passenger traffic after the commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and that it had already suffered a loss of $70 million in revenue in the first half of 2019, coupled with the wave of demonstrations that had led to a significant reduction in group travellers and a significant drop in passenger traffic by half in the last six months. Tsoi said TurboJET was worried that it would be difficult to hire another captain after the dismissal, so it hoped to "stop the bleeding" with a pay cut.

In April 2020, data from the Macau Public Security Police Force (CPSP) showed that a total of 14,747,000 travellers entered and left Macao by sea in 2019, including the Inner Harbour, Outer Harbour and Taipa Terminals, compared with 22,510,000 travellers in 2018, a huge drop of 34%. When compared to the 23.685 million arrivals in 2017, the difference is even 44 per cent. Shun Tak also announced its results. In 2017, when the bridge was not completed, Shun Tak's passenger business had a profit of $307 million. When the HZMB was opened to traffic in 2018, even though it was only for two months, Shun Tak's shipping profit for the year had fallen to $246 million, a drop of 20 per cent. By last year, Shun Tak's passenger business was not only unprofitable, but also suffered a loss of $122 million, a rare loss in many years. 1,450 passenger trips were made by the ferry service in 2017, and the number of passenger trips fell to 13 million in 2018, which means that after the commissioning of the HZMB for only about two months, the number of passenger trips in the same year had dropped by 10%. By last year, the total number of ferry trips for the year was 7.9 million, down 39 per cent year-on-year, with the number of trips dropping by almost five million. Shun Tak said: "The Group's transport division faces a huge challenge in 2019. the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) at the end of 2018, which has had an impact on regional tourism, began to surface in the first half of 2019. The shift of tour groups from travelling by sea to travelling by land has resulted in a decline in TurboJET's passenger volumes."

## Gallery

The TurboJET Premier Class shuttleThe *Universal MK III* was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2005* was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2007* was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK III* was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2005* was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe Universal MK III was berthing at Macau Outer Harbour Ferry TerminalThe *Penha* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2007* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2005* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2003* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2007* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry TerminalThe *Universal MK 2005* was berthing at Hong Kong - Macau Ferry Terminal
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## Notes and References

1. ↑ DISCLOSEABLE AND CONNECTED TRANSACTION IN RELATION TO THE ACQUISITION OF PASSENGER FERRY BUSINESS FROM NWFH, 11 August 2011.
2. ↑ Acquisition of New Ferry (Macau) by Shun Tak–China Travel Ship Management Limited, TurboJET Press Release, 11 August 2011.
3. ↑ https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/421015/%E5%99%B4%E5%B0%84%E9%A3%9B%E8%88%AA%E5%93%A1%E5%B7%A5%E9%81%8E%E5%B9%B4%E5%89%8D%E6%94%B6%E6%B8%9B%E8%96%AA%E9%80%9A%E7%9F%A5-%E6%96%99%E6%B6%89%E5%8D%83%E4%BA%BA-%E6%B8%9B%E8%96%AA8%E8%87%B312-%E4%B8%8D%E7%AD%89
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 港珠澳橋通車反修例夾擊 工會：半年客量跌半 收入大減 噴射飛航千人減薪一成 (TurboJET affected by HZMB opening and anti-ELAB protests, staff union: 50% decrease in ridership and drastic decrease in income within half a year, 1000 staff had salary reduced by 10%), Ming Pao, 14 January 2020.
5. ↑ Annual Report on Transport Information 2000. According to the information of the Transport Department, the Shun Tak Shipping Office is located at Kornhill Garden in Quarry Bay, and the hotline is 2859 3333.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Upper deck: 92 (76 luxury seats and 2 VIP rooms for 8 persons) + Lower deck: 326 (326 ordinary seats)
7. ↑ https://www.exmoo.com/article/123415.html
8. ↑ https://www.exmoo.com/article/147202.html?fbclid=IwAR0fBcs9z8xIXol7ep6TFEBOMSjF2\_xQo36uq-uhO4I6pmrtqkmfo26oEqc

## External Links

* TurboJET website
* Shun Tak Group website
	+ Corporate Profile: Transportation

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