The passengers aboard the Ocean Lala, the first passenger ship arriving at Su-ao Port directly from the mainland, are welcomed by people in southern Taiwan's Yilan county. CNS

TAIPEI: Amid drumming and trumpeting of lion-dance musicians, Su-ao Port in southern Taiwan's Yilan county welcomed its first passenger ship directly from the mainland yesterday.

The Ocean Lala, a high-speed ferry owned by the Taiwan shipping company Excalibur International Marine Corp, sailed from Damaiyu Port in Zhejiang province's Taizhou, with 355 passengers aboard. The ship embarked at 8:30 am and arrived in Su-ao at around 5 pm.

The passengers are mostly Zhejiang farmers, who will spend four days in Yilan enjoying the famed Rain Festival before heading off to other tourist destinations in Taiwan. The travelers plan to return to Taizhou aboard the Ocean Lala from Keelung on July 14.

Both the Taizhou and Yilan governments marked the inaugural cruise with festivities.

Speaking at a launch ceremony, Taizhou mayor Chen Tiexiong hailed the voyage as a milestone in the city's economic development, adding that direct marine transport between Taizhou and Taiwan will boost both the port and the travel industry.

The Yilan government specially set aside the port's No 1 pier for the Ocean Lala's arrival. Dragon and lion dances, folk music and aboriginal dances welcomed the arriving tourists.

Sea passengers are showing a preference for the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung since three direct links were opened across the Taiwan Straits in December last year. Su-ao Port has had two recent direct sailings from the mainland but both were cargo ships.

Dai Wenbiao, the deputy director of Zhejiang University's Taiwan Research Institute, called the Ocean Lala's charter cruise yesterday a successful step toward expanding marine links between the province and Taiwan.

Zhejiang and Taiwan should identify ways to complement each other in terms of their industrial structure, to achieve higher-level integration in future, Dai said.

Damaiyu Port is Zhejiang's closest deep-water port to Taiwan, only 163 miles from Keelung. It had commercial ties with Taiwan as early as 1945. Now able to handle 70,000-ton container ships, Damaiyu was added to the list of "direct link" seaports during the Straits Forum in May. Cargo service to Taiwan was launched on June 16.

Taizhou boasts unique geographic advantages as the convergence of the economically-booming Yangtze River Delta and the Straits Economic Circle envisioned by the Fujian government. The famed lighter industries in Taizhou and neighboring Wenzhou could complement Taiwan's economy in many ways, said Zhang Jianbin, the deputy director of the Taizhou Port Administration.

Local travel operators also pin high hopes on the cross-Straits sea service. Cruise trips calling in to Shanghai, Zhejiang's Hangzhou, Fujian's Xiamen and Taiwan ports are expected to attract a large tourist market.

"The direct sea service is great news for us," said Yang Bangmei, a 82-year-old resident of Taizhou. "I can travel to Taiwan by taking a boat near my door."

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 07/08/2009 page2)