Anei Kanko, a company operating shuttle boats and sightseeing trips in Yaeyama area, launched Sunday a service of a large high-speed boat “Paijima 2” between Ishigaki and Hateruma Islands. The boat is the largest in Okinawa, and the company expects its in-service rate to rise to 80%.

The vessel is 40 meters long and 11 meters wide, and weighs 284 tons. It can carry 210 passengers that is more than twice as many as high-speed boats in service thus far. As the boat weighs about 15 times more than normal ones, it’s said to be very steady seldom shake during the trips. The boat also has special and deck seats on its 2nd deck available for an extra charge.

Although the new boat takes about 80 minutes from Ishigaki Port to Hateruma Island, which is 10 minutes longer than the existing boat trip of 60 minutes, the larger vessel is more stable in bad weather and is expected to have fewer trips cancelled.

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