By HIRONORI KATO/ Staff Writer
October 27, 2022 at 19:09 JST
The Queen Beetle high-speed ferry heads for Nagasaki on a limited-time domestic service run on Aug. 11, 2022. (Eiji Hori)
FUKUOKA--After more than two years, a high-speed ferry connecting the Hakata district here in western Japan and Busan, South Korea, will resume services starting Nov. 4, JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Inc. announced.
The regular route connecting the two countries has been suspended since March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The company announced on Oct. 26 that the service will resume on weekends only during November.
A new-type ferry, dubbed the “Queen Beetle,” with a capacity of 502 passengers, was built in Australia and was delivered to Hakata Port in the fall of 2020.
While the Hakata-Busan service was suspended, the company ran the vessel in local waters. The ferry has been used as a pleasure boat in Fukuoka Bay and between Hakata and Moji in Kita-Kyushu.
The company intends to cancel this domestic service while seeing the circumstances of the Busan route.
The service from Hakata to Busan will run on Nov. 4, 5, 12, 19 and 26. The ferry is scheduled to depart from Hakata at 9 a.m. and arrive in Busan at 12:40 p.m.
The service from Busan to Hakata will be operated on Nov. 4, 6, 13, 20 and 27. The ferry will depart from Busan at 3 p.m. and arrive in Hakata at 6:40 p.m.
A standard class, one-way ticket will cost 16,000 yen ($109). During November, however, the company said it will offer 8,000-yen tickets as a special fare.
For the time being, reservations can only be made by phone via the Reservation Information Center (092-281-2315) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For departures from Hakata, passengers can board without a reservation if seats are available, but for departures from Busan, reservations must be made by 5 p.m. two days prior to the departure date.
The operation schedule for December will be announced in mid-November or later, but the ferry is expected to be dry-docked in the first half of December.
Before the pandemic, several Beetles made two or three round trips a day.
The company said if everything goes well, it will consider offering daily services during the year-end and New Year’s holidays.
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