Is the ferry between Changi, Singapore and Tanjung Belungkor, Malaysia currently running?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 26 Jul, 2023
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The mysterious second ferry service you heard about is the "bumboat" service between Changi Point Ferry Terminal (in Changi Village, not to be confused with the now closed Changi Ferry Terminal) and Tanjung Pengelih in Pengerang, Malaysia, only about 5 km away from Tg Belungkor as the bird flies (although much further away by road). These are small boats that operate without fixed schedule whenever enough passengers show up.
Unfortunately, immigration facilities on both sides remain closed and a quick call to the terminal at +6565451616 confirmed that bumboats to Malaysia are not running, and they had "no idea" when they will start running again. That said, Malaysia and Singapore have pretty much normalized travel by now, so reopening is probably a matter of time.
No.
I managed to find a news article. The ferry stopped running due to COVID in March 2020 and on December 31 2021 the Changi Ferry Terminal was shut down permanently.
Singapore: Changi Ferry Terminal ops ceases effective 31 December 2021
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Johor Port
Authority (JPA) on Friday (31 December) announced the closure of
Changi Ferry Terminal (CFT) at 30 Changi Ferry Road from 31 December
2021.Since March 2020, the ferry service between CFT and the Tanjung
Belungkor Ferry Terminal (TBFT) in Johor has been suspended in view of
the COVID-19 pandemic.JPA operated CFT under an agreement with MPA under which JPA was
responsible for the operations and associated running costs of the
terminal.This agreement ended in February 2021 and both parties have agreed not
to continue with the operation of CFT in view of economic
considerations.With the closure of CFT, the ferry service between CFT and TBFT will
also cease permanently.MPA and JPA are open to exploring other sea connectivity options
between Malaysia and Singapore under a Vaccinated Travel Lane (Sea)
arrangement.
I walked around this area on Tuesday and the ferry terminal is completely fenced off and many workers are active in the area.
According to Manifold Times, the Changi Ferry Terminal and the service to Tanjung Belungkor are now closed permanently.
There may soon be service from Singapore to Desaru, a bit further East on the coast, though as of this writing, it appears not to have been finally approved by the Singaporean authorities yet.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘