Jetfoil Service Between Hong Kong and Macau Turns 50, Commemorated With a Book

To commemorate the history of Hong Kong – Macau sailings, Aero Editor launched a book “Hong Kong - Macau High-Speed Ferries” (Traditional Chinese) last year. This book introduces the history, development and current status of sea travel between Hong Kong and Macau, especially the stories of the legendary Jetfoil fleet

On April 25, 1975, Jetfoil MADEIRA of Far East Hydrofoil Co. Ltd. (now TurboJET) set sail from Hong Kong to Macau, setting a new benchmark for the upcoming 50 years of sea travel between the cities with stability borrowed from airplane technology, record-breaking speed powered by dual jet engines, and doubled passenger capacity. As of today, Jetfoil is the oldest high-speed mass-transportation in Hong Kong and the oldest mass-transportation in Macau still under normal operations, carrying countless commuters and travel. ers to and from the cities as if flying above the sea.

Jetfoil MADEIRA arrived at Hong Kong in early 1975 and performed sea trial on April 10. On April 25, she sailed to Macau for the first time with passengers on board at 9am and completed 3 round trips under the same day. The cost of MADEIRA was USD$2.3 million (HKD 18 million). Traveling time squeezed from one hour and 15 minutes to just 50 minutes while the passenger capacity doubled to around 280. Each passenger was charged USD$3.90 (HKD 30) on weekdays and USD$4.50 (HKD 35) on weekends and holidays, plus a USD$0.60 (HKD 5) poll tax. After MADEIRA reached 100 hours of operation, the shipping company’s representative said in an interview that the ship never had any mechanical issues. Among the first 126 sails, only 4 sails were delayed or cancelled due to sea pollution. MADEIRA serviced loyally from April 1975 to the end of November 2013 when she crashed on an unknown object in sea and retired in her shipyard until today.

When the Hong Kong – Macau route introduced the first high-speed vessel COLOANE in 1964, she was a service-piercing hydrofoil with portions of the V-shape foils rise above the water surface when foilborne, resulting in poor ride in rough seas. Jetfoil was developed by Boeing, who utilized plane technologies to allow the vessel to “fly” above the sea with the support from the retractable forward and aft foils that stays under sea surface even in foilborne to avoid waves and turbulences which create seasickness. Passengers could enjoy a smooth and comfortable ride with the help of computer technology that stabilized the vessel in rough sea up to 3.5 meters of waves. The water inlet at the centre of the aft foil sucked in sea water, delivered to a pair of powerful jet engines that pushed three tons of water out in every second to let the vessel reach 43 knots of speed (approx. 80 km/h). All these features give Jetfoil a special place in the history of ship development. Far East Hydrofoils doubled down on their bet on Jetfoils after they enjoyed the great success brought from MADEIRA and SANTA MARIA, which joined later in 1975. In the early 1980s, Far East Hydrofoils pioneered night sailing service in high-speed ferries with advanced night vision system on board Jetfoils. In the 1990s, the number of Hong Kong – Macau Jetfoils was at the peak of 16 vessels.

The pandemic put the once busy Hong Kong – Macau line to a complete stop since February 2020. The operator, TurboJET, faced unprecedented challenges and began retiring numerous vessels. During this time, the world’s first Jetfoil FLORES was moved to Wang Tak Engineering and Shipbuilding Company Limited, where several other Jetfoils were scrapped. After this went on the news and voiced by various parties, FLORES remains in the shipyard with MADEIRA until today. On 20th September, 2024, Jetfoil TERCEIRA became the first Hong Kong – Macau Jetfoil to resume service after the pandemic. Currently, TERCEIRA is scheduled for two daily return trips. We expect to see more Jetfoils back in service in the future.

Outside of Hong Kong – Macau, Jetfoils were once widely used in western countries. Today, Jetfoils are active in several routes in Japan connecting outlaying islands with nearby cities, namely the Tokyo – Izu Islands route, Niigata – Sato Island route, Sakaiminato – Oki Islands route in Honshu; Fukuoka – Iki Island and Tsushima Island route, Nagasaki – Goto Islands route, Kagoshima and Ibusuki – Yakushima and Tanegashima route in Kyushu. There will be a new Jetfoil route between Naha and Kume Island in Okinawa coming soon. In 1987, Kawasaki Heavy Industries acquired manufacturing license from Boeing to start localized production of Jetfoils in Japan until 1995. After production stopped for 25 years, Kawasaki completed a new Jetfoil SEVEN ISLAND YUI in 2020 at a cost of around USD$3 million (JPY 5 billion, approx. HKD 350 million at the exchange rate by then). The cost is believed to surge for coming orders.