Hong Kong ferry services to several outlying islands and across Victoria Harbour will be temporarily adjusted on the morning of July 6 as authorities implement special maritime traffic arrangements. The city’s Transport Department said services on five outlying island routes and nine inner-harbour routes may be disrupted between about 10:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., and urged passengers, particularly island residents, to plan journeys in advance and allow extra travel time.

The changes coincide with the scheduled end of a Hong Kong port call by a PLA Navy task group comprising the guided-missile destroyer Nanning and guided-missile frigate Hengyang. During the affected period, specific sailings on the Central–Cheung Chau, Central–Mui Wo, Central–Peng Chau, Ma Wan–Central and Central–Discovery Bay routes will be delayed, brought forward or canceled. For example, the 10:45 a.m. Central–Cheung Chau departure will leave at 11:00 a.m., while Central–Mui Wo sailings at 10:00 a.m. from Mui Wo and 10:30 a.m. from Central will shift to 10:20 a.m. and 10:50 a.m., respectively. The 10:45 a.m. Central–Peng Chau sailing will instead depart at 10:30 a.m.

Services between Ma Wan and Central will see both the 10:00 a.m. departure from Ma Wan and the 10:30 a.m. departure from Central canceled. On the Central–Discovery Bay route, the 10:10 a.m. sailing from Discovery Bay and the 10:40 a.m. sailing from Central will also be canceled. Within Victoria Harbour, nine routes — Wan Chai–Tsim Sha Tsui, Central–Tsim Sha Tsui, North Point–Hung Hom, North Point–Kowloon City, Central–Hung Hom, North Point–Kwun Tong, water taxis, Sai Wan Ho–Kwun Tong and Sai Wan Ho–Sam Ka Tsuen — may be subject to temporary changes of up to about 30 minutes depending on conditions.

To mitigate the impact, operators will strengthen bus services serving Mui Wo, Discovery Bay and Ma Wan during the disruption window. New Lantao Bus route 3M between Mui Wo Ferry Pier and Tung Chung Station will run more frequently, while Discovery Bay’s DB03R route to Sunny Bay Station will also be enhanced. Additional special services on Ma Wan resident bus route NR338S, running in a loop between Ma Wan (Tung Wan Bus Terminus) and Central Pier No. 2, will be provided. Authorities will further introduce a free shuttle bus from outside the Discovery Bay Fire Station to Central Pier No. 3. The Transport Department’s Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will operate around the clock to monitor maritime traffic and public transport, aiming to restore normal ferry services as soon as practicable and strengthen capacity where necessary to ease passenger congestion.

Taiwanese prosecutors have intensified an investigation into alleged large-scale budget inflation at state-owned CPC Corp.’s third liquefied natural gas receiving terminal, launching a fourth round of coordinated searches targeting construction contractor Royal Chang Construction Co. and related parties. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office ordered investigators from the Agency Against Corruption and the Investigation Bureau to fan out across 27 locations, summoning 14 people for questioning in connection with the Guantang LNG terminal’s offshore breakwater works.

The probe centers on claims that the budget for the Guantang terminal’s "outer extension" breakwater project was repeatedly marked up in a short period. According to an anonymous complaint backed by a key audio recording cited in multiple reports, the original estimate of about NT$94 billion ($2.9 billion) rose through at least four rounds of increases to a final contract value of NT$253 billion. The recording is said to suggest that the price escalation was driven from the CPC side, with a specified construction firm ultimately winning the contract under a "most advantageous tender" mechanism.

Prosecutors began looking into the case last year after receiving the anonymous submission. To secure documents and electronic records, they carried out three search operations between December and early January that covered CPC, engineering consultant CECI Engineering Consultants’ Taiwan unit, and residences and offices of individuals linked to the project, seizing materials from a total of 11 sites and bringing in former CECI chairman Shih Yi-fang and others for questioning. All those questioned in those rounds, as well as the 14 individuals brought in following the latest searches, were released after questioning as the investigation continues.

The scale and pace of the inquiry has drawn political scrutiny. Opposition lawmaker Lo Chih-chiang has criticized what he describes as slow progress in moving from initial complaints, which he says date back to 2022, to raids on the winning contractor, questioning why the latest search of Royal Chang came months after earlier actions against CPC and consultants. Lo has also highlighted CPC’s high leverage and reliance on state-backed financing as reasons for closer oversight of major capital spending. The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it had already conducted an administrative probe at the request of the Legislative Yuan and forwarded its findings to prosecutors in January, while CPC has pledged to keep cooperating with judicial authorities in an effort to clarify the facts.