Year to date, the service has moved 1,800 tonnes of freight valuing more than $77 million, according to Xinhua's report.
Taiwan-mainland passenger ferry finds its new cargo business booming
A cross-Strait Ferry (CSF), the Mainland-Taiwan joint venture passenger ferry company, going between the mainland's Pingtan city in southeastern province Fujian to Taiwan's Taichung city, has carried nearly US$100 million's worth of goods as of mid-June.
Year to date, the service has moved 1,800 tonnes of freight valuing more than $77 million, according to Xinhua's report.
Statistics from Fujian's port and shipping authority show, the province ran 239 cross-strait sailings on direct passenger ferry service from January to May, a 35 per cent year-on-year increase. These services carried 65,600 passengers, which increased 3.93 per cent. CSF carried 52,800 passengers.
CSF's maiden voyage was launched in November 2011. Now the service has succeeded in helping shippers meet the need to ship freight to Taiwan from the Yangtze River Delta or the Pearl River Delta within 24 hours. Moving cargo from Taiwan to Fuzhou city via CSF takes only eight and a half hours.
CSF's cargo service is operated by Taiwanese freight forwarder Wagon Logistics, whose parent company is an investor in the joint venture. Most of its shipments are LCD monitors, agricultural products and seafood. In January, CSF started its first freight service by shipping 30 tonnes' of mail and parcels.