381 September 2006
Park Island's Marine Commute
The Park Island high-rises and ferry dock.
From New York to San Francisco, when American's talk of high-speed catamarans as an antidote to road congestion Hong Kong is part of the conversation. A city whose traffic congestion is surpassed only by the height and number of its high-rises, Hong Kong has made more extensive use of fast ferries than any other city.
At rush hour, the Central Piers on Hong Kong Island flock with commuters going to the outlying islands as well as Macau. Across the way on the Kowloon waterfront other high-speed ferries serve the Pearl River cities from Zuhai to Guangzhou. One of the most recent entrants to the commuting ferry business is the Park Island Transportation Company. This is an associated firm of the huge Park Island high-rise residential development ( www.parkisland.com.hk ) and provides both bus and marine transport from the complex.
Getting up to speed off Park Island.
The ferries leave from a beautiful pier complex a short walk from the towers. One route makes the 20-minute run to Tsuen Wan while a 30-minute route goes to Central on Hong Kong Island. The routes are served by two sets of ferries, the smaller 250-passenger Cummins KTA38-powered vessels (see Cummins Hotips#221) handle the shorter route as well as the run to Central in the off rush hour periods.
For the ten hours of heavy traffic, four larger 300-passenger boats serve the longer route. These boats, Park Island 1, 2, 3 and 5 have now been in service since their delivery from the Choi Lee's yard in Zuhai China in 2002. With a pair of Cummins KTA50 M2 main engines each delivering 1800 hp at 1900 RPM to water jets the boats have a top speed of over 30 knots, but operate at a more economical 1700 RPM for about 25 knots.
Into the sunset off Hong Kong Island.
Initially the larger vessels were on a 24-hour schedule and were doing 6000 hours per year. Recently with increased fuel prices they have been reduced to about ten hours per day handling rush hours. The company's smaller KTA38-powered 250-passenger boats can handle the 30-minute run to Central in off hours. In peak times the smaller vessels run to Tsuen Wan.
After four years of heavy usage these vessels are a well-proven part of the Hong Kong commute.
Into the sunset off Hong Kong Island.
For further information please contact:
Bill K.B. Chan
Engineer Manager
(Bus and Ferry)
Park Island Transport Company Ltd.
1/F, Park Island Ferry Pier,
8 Pak Lai Road, Ma Wan, NT
Phone 2946 8833
Fax: 2525 5556
Mobile: 9306 7829
E-mail: billchan@pitcl.com.hk
Web: www.pitcl.com.hk
Linda Zhang
Marketing Manager
Cummins China
Guangzhou, China
Phone: +86 13600040695
E-mail: zhang.sujuan@Cummins.com
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