The ferry might get cancelled. There’s a mayoral election today in Ishigaki and one of the candidates is against it.
砥板氏「反対」
公共性、採算性、経済合理性が全くない。石垣市と台湾は既に航空路線や貨物航路があり民業圧迫となる。台湾航路事業への公金支出は違法かつ不適切。同航路船舶接岸場所も他港湾事業への影響が大きい。
Sounds like there is some tricky local politics there, no doubt representing some vested interests . . .
Guy
Yes, Japan moving to the right.
As for the Ferry I would not take as its expensive and flights might be cheaper, besides that they are target higher spending tourists not sure how simple boat gets that 9vs. more luxury ship)
The FuKokoa/ Busan ferry failed, not sure this one will last as long as it’s lot of money for a small township to support.
Reading the comments from both people running for mayor, they do not want more tourists but ones that spend more and higher “quality” people (matching message for far right, less tourists). The living standard is better, and they want make it better. (They used poorest part of Japan, now the poorest area is north ほっかいどうHokkaido)
any updates on this? I’d way rather ferry than fly to Japan
I think I’d be interested in this ferry, too. If for no other reason than being on the ocean but not on a cruise ship. Not a fan of air travel, either.
Seems delayed to end of October or later, the boat has complex history
I would take the aeroplane, the ferry to Penghu looks better than this one? The Penghu ferry is cheaper than flying, this looks like it will most than the flight and questions remain about funding it from the township. (The town has less than half the people of Penghu , the will to support it seems going down). The island being near to Taiwan is an advantage bit the long boat ride takes that advantage away. (It’s like 1/5 the distance to taipei than where my family if from in Japan)
Looks like the ferry from Keelung did not materialize despite the fan fair.
The same vessel was then designated to do a route to Ishigaki from Tainan (why on the other side of the island??)
This so far has not happened as well.
These types of projects almost seem to be just to generate hype and news coverage, but then no one follows up to publish why they flopped.
Are there any international ferries operating from Taiwan currently? Pre-covid, there were at least two that went to China. I have not heard of them since.
Since the Yaima Maru is a vehicle ferry, it would be fun to use it to facilitate a car/moto/bicycle tour of the Ishigaki islands.
最晚年底首航
First sailing will be before the end of the year at the latest.
I so want to take that ferry!
Me too! I’ve got my money in my hand, ready to buy my ticket 
Does this make me sound racist? In my mind I’m being realistic: I’m glad that the Japanese are involved, makes me feel much better about the safety aspect.
航港局局長葉協隆表示，該船為巴拿馬籍，船商與巴拿馬方程序、與日方航政單位都有申請程序，加上要確保船的品質，比原定多了些時程
Director Yeh Hsieh-lung of the Maritime and Port Bureau stated that the ship is registered in Panama, and the shipowner had to go through the procedures with the Panamanian authorities and the Japanese maritime authorities. In addition, to ensure the quality of the ship, the timeline was longer than originally planned.
Welp, here it is. See link for photos and prices. Starting at 2800.
So this is the $2,800 (one way) room. I never imagined it would be a dorm room for 15 people.
I’m too old for sleeping with 14 strangers, but I don’t know if I want to cough up NT11,200 (round trip) for a private room. I can get flights to Naha (Peach) then to Ishigaki (ANA) roundtrip for about NT8,600. If the boat travels during the daytime then I suppose a private room isn’t necessary. I might try it once for the “cruise” experience, but flying seems better.
Sod that. Someone’s smelly feet in your face, the noise, snoring, kids, ubiquitous cheap food boxes with chopsticks.….
If I were a thief (which I am not) I would say that looks like a pretty decent place to work.
If I stayed there, I would be keeping my cold hard cash strapped to my body!
Guy
It’s only a 7 hour trip. Why don’t they have reserved seating as well? Best to hang out in the lounge or cafeteria if they have one.
I was looking forward to this ferry route finally being operational.
I think it’s only going to run overnight.
Can’t be worse than the old ferries to Matsu, right?