By Joshua Kwok
Some water transport operators are cashing in on the high-profile visit of the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong and its strike fleet to Hong Kong by ferrying visitors for a better look, although marine police have stopped their vessels from getting close.
Hong Kong Water Taxi, owned by the Oriental Pearl Cruise Company, organised special sightseeing tours for visitors to get a closer look on Thursday afternoon, and demand was so strong that it was adding more trips on Friday.
Another firm, Harbour Cruise Bauhinia, is offering a three-hour afternoon tea voyage on Saturday for HK$180 for adults and children and HK$90 for the elderly, with a highlight of seeing the Shandong from a distance.
The Shandong, China鈥檚 first home-made warship, was accompanied by the missile destroyers Yanan and Zhanjiang, as well as the missile frigate Yuncheng, on its five-day visit from Thursday to Monday. All tickets to get on board the three smaller warships were snapped up in about a minute.
John Zheng Fangxiang, deputy general manager of Oriental Pearl Cruise, said the special tours were well-received with 700 to 1,000 passengers per day.
鈥淭he reactions are very positive. We had planned to free up ships from [other] routes to increase the number of tours for seeing the vessel; it is an ongoing process of optimisation,鈥 he said.
The Post has learned that the Travel Industry Council and some lawmakers have also booked a water taxi for sightseeing.
Sources said the water taxi company had been in touch with authorities about the tours in advance. However, no boats were allowed to get near the warships, they said, hence the warnings from marine police.
Lin Jie Song, 46, a military enthusiast from Zhuhai, was among 147 passengers taking a water taxi to get a closer look at the Shandong after he had earlier hiked up Yuk Kwai Shan in Ap Lei Chau at 1am on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the carrier.
鈥淚 am super-excited right now after being able to see it up close in front of me, even though I hiked and stayed up all night,鈥 Lin said.
The water taxi was able to get within 350 to 400 metres of the carrier before marine police told it to 鈥渓eave the entire area immediately鈥.
The crowd, mostly tourists on the 170-passenger capacity vessel, cheered for the carrier, waving small national flags.
鈥淭he great Shandong, I finally came to see you,鈥 a passenger yelled.
Another tourist, Zhang Bingyee, 38, from Fujian, called herself 鈥渁 patriot youngster鈥 and said everyone should be proud of Chinese military power, which gave her a sense of security.
鈥淚 am jealous of the Hong Kong citizens who can be the first ones to get onto the motherland-made carrier,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut seeing the Shandong up close made the trip all worthwhile.鈥
She said she had stumbled on an advert for the trip on RedNote and felt 鈥渟uper lucky鈥 that she had seen the ship on the last day of her visit.
Local cosmetics saleswoman and model fan Kinki Tai Wing-nga, 34, said she had joined the tour after seeing RedNote adverts, adding that the vessel was 鈥渃ool鈥.
鈥淚 was indignant after not being able to get tickets for visiting in person, and I had to see it somehow,鈥 she said.
Another RedNote talking point was about internet users chartering private boats to view the Shandong on Saturday. These small groups are organising sightseeing trips, with each participant contributing about HK$350.