LABUAN: Thousands of passengers relying on the 212-capacity Labuan-KK Express ferry to commute between the island Federal Territory and the State Capital now have to go by road, instead.
The ferry operations that were reduced to weekends when they resumed early this year ceased last Monday (March 30) dealing also a blow to the tourism sector on both sides.
The operator, Power Boat Sdn Bhd, said the high cost of diesel lately made the service unfeasible – making it the first public transport facility to be badly hit by the Middle East tensions that it had to stop.
The vessel was running a profitable and popular service for about a decade until the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
After a hiatus of few years it resumed business following appeals by former Minister in the PM’s Department (Federal Territories) Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
Apart from the soaring fuel price there were complaints of inadequate fuel subsidy.
Adding to this was the new higher passenger fees imposed on the service provider for using the Sabah Ports Authority (SPA) terminal unlike before when the Jesselton Point terminal was used.
Appeals were made last December with vessel owner Wong Kiing Toh submitting a petition to Minister Culture, Arts and Tourism to resolve the issue.
It was also raised with new FT Minister Hanah Yeoh who directed that the complaint be “researched”. But there was no change to the situation.
The one-way three-hour ride for an adult Malaysian on regular class was RM45, way cheaper than the one-way airfare of RM198.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the Labuan Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Datuk Ramasamy Rengasamy, many Sabah students in higher educational institutions would miss the service because it provided a quick direct connection to KK without having to be caught up in traffic snarls on the Menumbok-KK highway.
The ferry also helped deliver small items to Labuan at lower cost.
