Taiwan opens cross-strait shipping links for foreign cruise lines
Taiwan News reports about the opening of cross-strait shipping links for foreign cruise lines:
“Foreign-registered cruise lines that receive government permits will be allowed to operate routes across the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) reported Tuesday. The accord on the opening of shipping links signed by Taiwan and China last week stipulates that only national vessels of the two sides will be permitted to sail directly between points in the two countries.
MOTC officials said, however, that Taiwan and China have reached a tacit agreement to allow foreign cruise lines to serve cross-strait routes without detouring through a third country or area.
The ministry believes that such an agreement will boost Taiwan’s tourism sector by providing a new avenue for Chinese tourists to visit the island.
Under the terms of the shipping pact, Taiwan will open 11 ports across the country to direct cross-strait shipping services that will connect them to 63 destinations in China.
Several cruise lines based in Singapore, Japan and Britain are currently serving Taiwan, according to the MOTC.” [more]
