Letter to the Editor | ‘I was astonished at the constant stream of rubbish that our ferry passed by during the entire length of the journey’

Dear Editor,

The issues of litter in and around Macau, Hong Kong and the Pearl River Estuary seem to be in a constant distressing state as its unsightly presence is encroaching and affecting daily life.
On Monday, June 27, I was on the 11.30 a.m. ferry, departing from Macau Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal to Sheung Wan on one of Turbo Jet’s older small jetfoils.
As we were crossing under the Taipa Friendship bridge, before we had entered into open water, the Ferry started to act very unusual. The Ferry captain announced over the speaker that rubbish had entered the intake and that they were attempting to flush it out.
After about 20 minutes turning about in the water just east of the bridge, the captain informed that the debris was unable to be flushed out and that we would be returning to the ferry terminal. Just looking around, one could see a great deal of debris and rubbish floating on the water. The amount of rubbish now in the shipping canal is so thick that it seems impossible for any ship to avoid.
50 minutes after initially departing, we had returned to the Outer Harbor ferry terminal and were quickly transferred onto one of the larger Catamaran’s to continue our departure for Sheung Wan.
Throughout this incident, no one was harmed and we made it back to the terminal safely, albeit slowly, thanks to the professionalism and handling by the ferry crew. However, on the second attempt to get to Hong Kong, I paid closer attention to the water and was astonished at the constant stream of rubbish that our ferry passed by during the entire length of the journey.
We were fortunate the rubbish affected the intake at a time the vessel was traveling at a low speed, but in the past few years, others haven’t been as lucky.
A quick Google search brings up an incident in November 2013 in which a Turbo Jet ferry struck an unknown object suspected to be floating debris (SCMP, Macau jetfoil passengers tell…) as well as a similar incident in October 2015 (MDT, “At Least 100 Injured as speeding jetfoil strikes unknown object”).  These are no longer isolated incidents but are now leading to a disturbing trend in which we must ask not if, but when will the next accident occur in which a ferry strikes rubbish that could result in injuries.
All attempts to pressure local government officials to acknowledge this issue with litter and pollution of our water ways do not seem to be working, likely due to the fact that the problem is much larger than rubbish coming from Macau, but the whole region. Any action is going to require close cooperation by the mainland authorities jointly with Macau and Hong Kong authorities overseeing pollution, environmental concerns and travel safety across the Pearl River Estuary.
But given the complex nature of governmental decisions between all bodies, it may be more effective that private organizations and companies, such as Turbo Jet, voice their concerns or take some direct action as the rubbish growth will not only affect our view of the city but will eventually harm our health and economy.

Sincerely,
Luke Lienau
lmlienau@gmail.com
Central Macau