Sun Ferry Services Company Limited, more widely known as Sun Ferry () and formerly New World First Ferry Services Limited (in short New World First Ferry, First Ferry or NWFF), is a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service company in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. The company was established in November 1999, when it took over the eight licensed ferry routes transferred from Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry in January 2000.

Background

When the company commenced its service on 15 January 2000, it bought 14 ferries and rented seven

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

and

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s from its predecessor. Since then it has introduced 10 fast vessels on Outlying Islands routes to phase out the rented vessels and to improve services. It used to have a subsidiary, New World First Ferry Services (Macau) Limited (abbreviated New World First Ferry (Macau)), which operated a high-speed ferry service between

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

( China Ferry Terminal in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui ( zh, c=尖沙咀), often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed ...

) and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

( Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Pier). In 2011, it was sold to Shun Tak–China Travel Ship Management Limited, the owner of

TurboJET The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

. That subsidiary has now been renamed.

Routes

It operates the following routes: * Central to

Cheung Chau Cheung Chau (; ) is an outlying island of Hong Kong, located southwest of Hong Kong Island. It is also called Dumbbell Island () due to its dumbbell-like shape. It has been inhabited for longer than most other places in Hong Kong, and had ...

and

Mui Wo Mui Wo is a rural town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island in British Hong Kong, Hong Kong. The 2011 Census recorded 5,485 people living in Mui Wo and its environs. Mui Wo (English: Mui Wo), formerly known as Mei Wo or Mei Wei (Cantonese: ...

*Circular between Peng Chau, Mui Wo,

Chi Ma Wan Chi Ma Wan () is a bay on southeastern Lantau Island, New Territories, Hong Kong. Chi Ma Wan Peninsula () is where Chi Ma Wan, as well as Cheung Sha Wan, Lantau, Cheung Sha Wan, Tai Long Wan, Chi Ma Wan, Tai Long Wan, Yi Long Wan and Mong Tung ...

, and Cheung Chau *

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects ...

to Hung Hom and

Kowloon City Kowloon City is an area in New Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is part of Kowloon City District. Compared with the council area of Kowloon City District, the Kowloon City area is History As early as in the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), Kowloon ...

*North Point to

Joss House Bay Joss House Bay, also known as Tai Miu Wan, is near the south end of Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong. The Cantonese name ''Tai Miu Wan'' means "the bay of large temple" after the oldest Tin Hau Temple in Hong Kong. This is also a po ...

(大廟灣) (special service which only operates on Tin Hau-birthday-festival) Ceased routes: *Central to Peng Chau *

to Mui Wo and Cheung Chau *

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...

Tai O Tai O () is a fishing town, partly located on an island of the same name, on the western side of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The village name means ''large inlet'', referring to wiktionary:outlet, outlet for the waterways (Tai O Creek and Tai ...

(via: Tung Chung and Sha Lo Wan) *Tuen Mun to

Chek Lap Kok Chek Lap Kok is an island in the western waters of Hong Kong's New Territories. Unlike the smaller Lam Chau, it was only partially leveled when it was assimilated via land reclamation into the island for the current Hong Kong International ...

/ Tung Chung Inter-cities * Hong Kong to Macau (sold to

in 2011)

Fleet

20230128 124153 Sun Ferry First Ferry VIII Central Ferry Piers

Current fleet

Former fleet

Ownership

New World First Ferry was owned by

NWS Holdings CTF Services Limited (), () is a conglomerate with a diversified portfolio of market-leading businesses, predominantly in Hong Kong and the Mainland under Chow Tai Fook Enterprise (CTFE). Operating businesses include toll roads, insurance, logi ...

via NWS Transport Services. In the past, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, parent company of NWS Holdings, owned 50% shares of NWS Transport Services until 2016. New World First Ferry and NWS Holdings are named after

New World Development New World Development Company Limited (NWD) is a Hong Kong–based company focused on property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The company is publicly listed on t ...

, the flagship listed company of Chow Tai Fook group. In May 2020, New World First Ferry was sold to Chinese government owned Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises. Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises is the parent company of Chu Kong Passenger Transport, which offers inter-cities passenger liner, for cities of the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

. Chu Kong is the alternative transliteration of Pearl River. Following the sale, formal registration of the change of company name to Sun Ferry Services Company Limited took effect on 7 January 2021 in Hong Kong's Companies Registry.

References

External links

* {{Hong Kong-Macau Water Transport Ferry transport in Hong Kong NWS Holdings 1999 establishments in Hong Kong Water taxis and water buses Shipping companies of Hong Kong