Macau’s Marine and Water Bureau will hold an opening ceremony for the new Pac On ferry terminal on Thursday morning, it said in a statement.
The new ferry terminal is located near the city’s airport on Taipa Island. One of the purposes of the new site is to help deliver more tourists to the Cotai area and the casino resorts there.
The Pac On ferry terminal is to have eight operational berths for commercial ferry services at an initial stage, according to the Marine and Water Bureau. Another eight berths for use by commercial ferry services would come into operation in later stages.
An additional three “multi-functional” berths would also be made available. The new terminal will include the first commercial helipad in the Taipa-Cotai area.
The ferry port will have a capacity to handle about 400,000 ferry passengers per day, according to the bureau.
The Pac On ferry terminal project has been marred by reported delays and controversy, mainly as the result of changes in the design of the terminal, including its enlargement. The terminal was originally scheduled to be up and running by 2009.
The Marine and Water Bureau confirmed to GGRAsia in early May that the number of ferry operators, sailings and routes at the new Pac On ferry terminal will be the same as that provided by the temporary Taipa ferry terminal (pictured) operating next door to the new facility.
Currently, the ferry companies operating at the temporary Taipa ferry terminal are TurboJet, Cotai Water Jet and Yuet Tung. Those three ferry operators will remain as service providers when the new Pac On ferry terminal comes into use, said the bureau.
Helicopter transport services will not be available at the “initial stage” of operation of the new Pac On ferry terminal, the bureau added at the time.
The temporary Taipa ferry terminal, which first came into use in 2007, will be demolished following the operation of the new Pac On ferry terminal. This provisional infrastructure will be replaced by supporting facilities for the new ferry terminal, according to the government.
