Ferry service to Xiaoliuqiu cut back by rough seas
Rough seas are forcing ferries to Taiwan's Xiaoliuqiu island to run morning-only sailings on Saturday and stop completely on Sunday, bad news for weekend tourists and the island's hotels and tour operators.
- All four ferry companies on the Donggang–Xiaoliuqiu and Yanpu routes are ending Saturday service early, with last boats between late morning and early afternoon.
- Sunday sailings are cancelled entirely, and Monday depends on the weather.
- One operator is moving Saturday departures to Yanpu fishing harbour for safety, running only a handful of early sailings.
- Weekend shutdowns have become unusually common this summer — five of the past nine weekends have lost at least one day of sailings.
- Even a single lost day pushes most visitors to postpone or cancel their trips, since they risk being stranded on the way out or back.
Outlook: Service could resume Monday if the weather calms, but repeated low-pressure systems and typhoons mean more weekend cancellations are likely before summer ends.