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The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry service operator in Hong Kong, China. Its principal routes carry passengers across the Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

The fleet of twelve ferries operates four routes across the harbour, carrying over 70,000 passengers a day, or 26 million a year. Even though there are now other ways to cross the harbour (by MTR and road tunnels), the Star Ferry continues to provide an efficient, popular and inexpensive mode of crossing the harbour. The company's main route runs between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, which is what most people mean by "the Star Ferry" in common parlance. This route is also popular with tourists, and has become one of the icons of Hong Kong heritage in the eyes of tourists. From the ferry, one can take in the famous view of the harbour and the Hong Kong skyline.

Contents 1 History 2 Ferry routes and fares 3 Fleet 4 Piers 5 Image gallery 6 Connections 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

The company was originally founded by Parsee Dorabjee Nowrojee as the "Kowloon Ferry Company" in 1888. He renamed it to "Star Ferry" in 1898, inspired by his love of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar", of which the first line reads "Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!". In 1924 the Yaumati Ferry would monopolize the route to Kowloon in competition^[1].

The Star Ferry makes a "star turn" in the 1950s film The World of Suzie Wong. In the beginning of the film, Robert Lomax (played by William Holden) debarks from the USS President Harrison (an old American President Line transpacific passenger vessel) and takes the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island, and on the ferry meets Suzie Wong (played by Nancy Kwan), who scorns his attentions as unwanted. The ferry itself is completely recognizable, and the layout of the pier where William Holden debarks in Kowloon is familiar to the resident or denizen of Tsim Sha Tsui, but missing are the giant shopping malls of today.

In 1966, a fare increase of 10 cents of the ferry sparked the 1966 Hong Kong Riots. Until the opening of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972, the Star Ferry was the main means of public transportation between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon side.

On November 11, 2006, the end of an era was marked when the third generation pier in Central, the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier, ended its mission, along with the big clock tower. The pier will be demolished to make way for reclamation.

The Star Ferry operates the following cross-harbour routes:

• Central to Tsim Sha Tsui, costing HK$1.7 for the lower deck, HK$2.2 for the upper deck
• Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui for HK$2.2
• Central to Hung Hom for HK$5.3
• Wan Chai to Hung Hom for HK$5.3
• Harbour Tour: a tourist cruise, making an indirect, circular route to all the stops, namely Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai, and Hung Hom. ^[2]

There are currently 8 ships in the Star fleet with average age of the fleet at 44 years:

Star Ferry Fleet

Name	Year Built	Builder	Seats	Notes
Morning Star (曉星號)	1965	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576	named for original Kowloon Ferry Company's Morning Star (1888)
Day Star (晨星號)	1964	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Night Star (夜星號)	1963	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576	named for original Kowloon Ferry Company's Night Star
Electric Star (電星號)	1933			retired in 1968
Golden Star (金星號)	1989	Wang Tak Engineering & Shipbuilding Ltd	762
World Star (世星號)	1989	Wang Tak Engineering & Shipbuilding Ltd	762
Celestial Star (天星號)	1956	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576	currently the oldest vessel in service
Twinkling Star (熒星號)	1964	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Silver Star (銀星號)	1965	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Glowing Star (耀星號)		Hong Kong Shipyard	288	ex-British Army vessel delivered to Star Ferry in 2001 and its rental was ceased in 2005
Northern Star (北星號)	1959	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Meridian Star (午星號)	1958	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Solar Star (日星號)	1958	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576
Shining Star (輝星號)	1964	Hong Kong & Whampoa Shipyard	576	now used for the Star Ferry Harbour Tour (top sections were opened up)
Kowloon				tug boat

• Star Ferry Pier, Central at Central District
  • First Generation (1890) at junction of Ice House Street and Connaught Road Central
  • Second Generation (1912) at Pedder Street, the present site of Jardine House
  • Third Generation (1957) near Edinburgh Place
  • Fourth Generation (2006) (Pier 7 and 8 of Central Ferry Piers) at Man Kwong Street
• Star Ferry Pier at Tsim Sha Tsui (1957)
• Hung Hom Pier
• Wan Chai Pier

Lower deck of a ferry boat in the morning	Queen's Pier (Old Star Ferry Pier) in Central, Hong Kong.	Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.	The pier in Tsim Sha Tsui at night, with the 2 ifc and 1 ifc in the background
Golden Star (金星號) of Hong Kong Star Ferry	Two piers in Tsim Sha Tsui at night	Pier 7 in Central, one of two newer piers which replaced the old Central piers.	The 4th (recessed) and 3rd generation (foreground) of the Central pier.

• Taxicabs of Hong Kong

• Transportation in Hong Kong
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry

• Official website
• Star Ferry Video
• Guy Photo Collection - Star Ferry Sub-page
• Save the Star Ferry Pier and the Clock Tower
• Project SEE
• Documentary on the Star Ferry Protest

• What Hong Kong Star Ferry’s Tragic End Exposes