TurboJet has announced adjustments to its Macao-Hong Kong ferry service starting from 1 June. 

Following the update, daily service between Sheung Wan in Hong Kong and the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in Macao will total 20 or 21 sailings, a drop of three or four sailings in comparison to the current total of 24 sessions per day. 

Cancelled sailings include the 3 pm ferry departing from Hong Kong. The regularly scheduled 11:30 pm and 4:00 pm ferries from Hong Kong have also been redesignated as optional sailings. 

Meanwhile, the 10 am, 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm ferries departing from Macao have been removed. A new 4:30 pm regular departure and 5:30 pm optional departure have been added to this route, with the regular 2:30 pm sailing reassigned as an optional sailing. 

By contrast, TurboJet has boosted sailings between Sheung Wan and the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Macao. Instead of the current roundtrip schedule of just one ferry per day, the new timetable will add three more daily sailings, bringing the total to four ferries both ways.

The newly added times for the Sheung Wan to Taipa route cover 10:30 am, 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm, with the original 11:30 pm service remaining unchanged. 

Similarly, the journey from Taipa to Sheung Wan will include the new times of 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm, on top of the current 5:30 pm sailing. 

[See more: Hong Kong International Airport opens expanded Terminal 2 today]

TurboJet’s shake-up of its ferry schedule comes after an earlier update on 15 April, which saw the firm bring forward the last departure from Hong Kong to Macao’s Outer Harbour by 30 minutes, from 11 pm to 10:30 pm. 

As part of this earlier revision, Taipa sailings were also reduced significantly. Daily service from Hong Kong to Taipa was slashed from three sailings to two, while the service from Taipa to Hong Kong was reduced from two sailings to one. 

The ferry operator’s reduction of ferry sessions has been taking place amid the growing number of people choosing to travel between the SARs via crossborder buses on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HKZMB). During the Easter holiday last month, the bridge handled a record-breaking number of vehicles.

Higher fuel prices stemming from the Middle Eastern conflict have also forced TurboJet and its competitor Cotai Water to raise ticket prices. On 25 April, TurboJet increased its fares by around 10 percent, resulting in the price of an economy class journey between Macao and Hong Kong surging from 175 patacas to 194 patacas.