With the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush approaching, Hainan Strait Shipping Company has upgraded the capacity of their forty-nine passenger ferries ahead of schedule. Through shipyard repairs, structural modifications, and the addition of new carrying capacity, the company has comprehensively improved the efficiency of cross-strait ferry transportation.

Haikou Xinhai Harbour (Photo: Hainan Strait Shipping Company)

According to a company representative, this capacity upgrade focuses on optimizing key components of the ferries and improving operational efficiency. A comprehensive overhaul of core components such as ship engines, navigation systems, and fire-fighting equipment has been conducted to ensure all vessels are in optimal operating condition. In terms of structural modifications, ramp modifications to the ‘Haikou 16’, ‘Zijing 22’, and ‘Haizhuang 18’ ferries have increased loading and unloading efficiency by 33% per trip, increasing the number of scheduled daily voyages per ferry from six to eight. Five ferries, including the ‘Baodao 12’, have been fitted with new passenger staircases, enabling separate passenger boarding and disembarking. This has reduced the loading and unloading time per voyage from 45 minutes to 25 minutes, significantly shortening turnaround time in port. The mast of the ‘Baodao 16’ has been modified, allowing the ferry to pass under Century Bridge to access anchorage in Haikou Bay directly in case of typhoon. This shortens the distance the ferry needs to travel to reach typhoon shelter from 470 nautical miles to 30 nautical miles, reducing the ferry’s typhoon shelter voyage time from 38 hours to only three hours.

Currently, repairs and upgrades to all 49 of the company’s ferries have completed, and the ships are in excellent operating condition. To further improve transportation capacity, the ‘Luyuan 6’, which has a carrying capacity of 150 vehicles, and the ‘Luyuan 9’, which can carry 200 vehicles, will also begin ferry service before the Spring Festival travel rush.