()
Following the Japanese government’s announcement of eased entry restrictions related to COVID-19, international passenger ships between Busan and Tsushima will operate daily on weekdays starting next week.
On the 3rd of this month, Tsushima City in Japan sent an official letter to shipping companies stating that restrictions on the number of passenger ships and the number of people on board was completely lifted from the 8th.
Currently, Panstarline.com and Starline operate Tsushima Link (capacity: 425 passengers) and Nina (capacity: 440 passengers) once a day on weekends (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday).
After a preparation period, shipping companies will start operating on weekdays from the 16th. However, for the next three weeks on weekdays (Tuesday-Friday), only one of the two passenger ships will operate round-trip on two-day shifts. According to an official from Starline, this is because it takes at least 15 days to a month to recruit passengers, and they agreed with PanStarline.com to operate only one ship on weekdays for three weeks, considering cost issues such as oil prices.
Starting next month, shipping companies will operate both the Tsushima Link and the Nina every day on weekdays and weekends. It has been 37 months since the Tsushima route was completely normalized.
Before the pandemic, the route between Busan and Tsushima was popular for hiking, fishing, and duty-free shopping, and up to 830,000 visitors traveled to Tsushima each year via the eight Korean-Japanese passenger ships.
However, flights were completely suspended in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and after 34 months, they resumed one weekend a day in late February. According to Daema City policy, the number of passengers who can ride per ship at a time started at 100 and gradually increased to 300, and the limit on the number of passengers on weekends was lifted from the 29th of last month.
With the easing of passenger restrictions, Japan abolished entry restrictions on the 8th, and it is no longer necessary to submit a COVID-19 negative certificate or vaccination certificate when entering Japan. Additionally, from the 8th, COVID-19 has been classified as an infectious disease at the same level as seasonal influenza (flu), and additional entry restrictions have disappeared.
