After his last passenger disembarked and the wharf's gate was locked for good, captain Shen Jinshun packed up in the duty room and then departed on his motorbike into a setting sun.

April 30th marked the very last day of 200-year-old Dongsan wharf, one of Shanghai's few remaining ancient ferry wharfs. As bridges and expressways provide alternative modes of transportation and ferries lose passengers to rapid transport, Shanghai's old ferry routes are quickly sinking into oblivion.

The ferries on the Huangpu River operate daily. Photo: CFP

Dongsan wharf was the backdrop against which captain Shen grew up with dreams of operating his own boat. Seven years ago he was made captain of a ferry. With a staff of just six, captain Shen was responsible not just for his passengers but for the ferry's profits and losses, a responsibility that he hadn't imagined when he was just a boy playing sea captain.

"For the first few years, our monthly gross stood at around 25,000 yuan ($3844), enough to pay our workers. But as new bridges and expressways around Shanghai were opened to traffic, our passenger numbers dropped to no more than 100 per day. Thus we have been running in the red for a while," said Shen.

In the wake of these losses, orders from port authorities that Dongsan ferry wharf be closed in May 2016 arrived at captain Shen's duty room.

Wang Huanchun, who came with her daughter to witness the closing of the ancient wharf, captured the final emotional moments of captain Shen and his last passengers on her camera.

Wang was born in Songjiang, a suburban district of Shanghai in the 1970s and left home at age 14 for school. She did not return to work in Songjiang until 2015. Her hometown's unique interlacing waterways were once the primary way for local people to travel, by paddle boat in the past and, in recent decades, by motor boat. The wharf where many years ago she used to wave goodbye to her parents as the ferry took her away to school has been closed for years. She can no longer recall its name.

"I learned at the end of April that Dongsan ferry wharf was going to be closed as well, so I came with my daughter to see the last ferry and witness its closing," said Wang.

It was a sentimental moment for captain Shen as well as locals like Wang. Some suggested that the wharf be integrated into local tourism, but others had opposite ideas. "What's the point of holding on to decaying things? They'd better be kept on photos," said one local.

Significant passenger decreases

The earliest motor ferry service across Shanghai's Huangpu River can be traced back to 1910. It served as an integral route along the metropolis' public transportation network prior to bridges and tunnels being built over and under the Huangpu River. The ferry, costing only 0.5 yuan, was literally the only choice for passengers before Shanghai's economic boom. In 1988, the ferry's daily number of passengers hit a staggering 1,000,000.

According to Shanghai Ferry Co. Ltd, there are currently 18 ferry routes in the city. With Tangmi route suspended for maintenance, there are 17 routes in operation. "Presently, only the Dongjin route boasts steady business, while all the other routes are suffering significant passenger decreases," a representative of the ferry company told thepaper.cn. "Business is the worst on routes such as Caolin, Tangdong, Chenche and Duwu."

A ferry can accommodate as many as 400 passengers, but normally the passenger number stays at 40 to 50 on each deck. Most fail to fill even a fraction of their available seats. "Operational cost of each round trip is about 70 yuan," a staff revealed to thepaper.cn. "There is a 20-minute interval between each shift, so a ferry route runs about 60 trips every day. The ticket price is 2 yuan for each passenger and 3 yuan for non-motor vehicles, which means that it takes at least 35 passengers or 24 non-motor vehicles per trip to avoid a loss."

"We keep losing money," the staff said.

Even at peak commute times, profits from the Dongjin route are not enough to cover the losses of other routes. The Dongjin ferry route owes most of its success to the unique fact that it encompasses a good number of Shanghai's landmarks. The Bund, Yuyuan Garden, Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, the Shanghai World Finance Center are just a few sites to be seen from its deck.

Passengers check the view along the river while taking the ferry. Photo: CFP

The ticket price of a mere 2 yuan is just 1 percent of a touristic sightseeing ship's cost, yet a majority of foreign tourists are not even aware of the Dongjin ferry's existence.

Outmoded mode of transport

As a mode of daily transportation, ferries have lost their appeal to commuters now that bridges, tunnels, the metro and buses enable Shanghai's commuters to directly cross the river without having to board a boat.

"Twenty years ago, we had no alternatives to cross the Huangpu River except the ferry. But now we have many diversified choices," said a female passenger surnamed Fang who described the idea of taking a ferry as "quite outmoded."

"Older people still habitually commute by bike and then ferry, but the younger generation prefers metro," said Fang. As Shanghai's economy continues to propel the city into one of the wealthiest - and most expensive - in the world, infrastructure along the river is rapidly expanding. The ferry will not see a brighter future without extension of its functions.

According to one industry insider, the functions of a ferry for commutes and for tourism should not be distinctly set apart. A lesson needs to be learned from the Huangpu River waterbus that was closed in April of 2016, just 4 months after trialing. That waterbus operated only during the peak hours and not on weekends - and inexplicably closed at 6 pm just when most office workers were starting their commutes home. Consequently, tourists and citizens alike found it hard to rely on the new waterbus as much as they wanted to, which resulted in its low occupancy rate.

It was suggested by the same insider that, as more locals and foreign expats are becoming nostalgic for traditional bicycles, related departments of the municipal government ought to work with bike-rental services at some Shanghai wharfs to allow cyclists a better view of the city after disembarking the ferry.

Meanwhile, practical adjustments must be made on ferry timetables in accordance with the real-time number of passengers in order to minimize unnecessary costs. The business model of ferries as a public service also awaits reformation in order to closely cater to market needs.

Until then, peaceful waters are still in the horizon for the Dongjin ferry route, which expects a passenger boom once the new Shanghai Disneyland opens in June.

Compiled by Global Times based on stories from thepaper.cn
Newspaper headline: Last days of Dongsan