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I'm planning to start my upcoming world trip in Singapore and for something different instead of just taking a bus over the border to the west of Malaysia I found that there is a ferry on the east side.

But I'm not sure whether it's currently running. The ferry company's name is Tanjung Belungkor. I don't know if they have their own website. I can only find what look like 3rd party websites for booking many ferries and I can't book it through those but no reason is given, nor can I find a news section with any updates.

For instance, this site, directferries.co.uk sells tickets on the ferry but doesn't look like it belongs to the ferry company. It displays the vague text

Changi - Tanjung Belungkor: No further sailings
Tanjung Belungkor - Changi: No further sailings

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    This question doesn't seem to me like a good Q for this site; it's date/time-sensitive. If the ferry is running today, maybe it won't be in 2 months, or vice versa. This could be turned into a better Q by rewriting it to ask "How can I determine whether the ferry ... is running?" which is less likely to go stale.
    – shoover
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 15:11
  • It seems there was also a ferry from Changi Point Ferry Terminal to a different ferry terminal in Tanjung Belungkor. This route also shows up on Google Maps but so far is even harder to find information about.
    – hippietrail
    Commented May 31, 2022 at 4:11
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    @shoover I don't think this can possibly go stale as we now know with 100% certainty that the route under question has been permanently closed and in fact the whole Changi Ferry Terminal has been permanently closed. There is no chance of a maybe in 2 months change. Besides, close to everything related to travel changes over time.
    – hippietrail
    Commented May 31, 2022 at 4:14
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    @shoover did you manage to miss the many hundreds of time-sensitive questions about covid?
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented May 31, 2022 at 4:42

3 Answers 3

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According to Manifold Times, the Changi Ferry Terminal and the service to Tanjung Belungkor are now closed permanently.

There may soon be service from Singapore to Desaru, a bit further East on the coast, though as of this writing, it appears not to have been finally approved by the Singaporean authorities yet.

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    Thanks! I also found that Manifold Times article and was formatting my answer when yours also came in. I'll keep an eye on the new service and maybe check out the old terminal when I'm there.
    – hippietrail
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 1:36
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No.

I managed to find a news article. The ferry stopped running due to COVID in March 2020 and on December 31 2021 the Changi Ferry Terminal was shut down permanently.

Singapore: Changi Ferry Terminal ops ceases effective 31 December 2021

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Johor Port Authority (JPA) on Friday (31 December) announced the closure of Changi Ferry Terminal (CFT) at 30 Changi Ferry Road from 31 December 2021.

Since March 2020, the ferry service between CFT and the Tanjung Belungkor Ferry Terminal (TBFT) in Johor has been suspended in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

JPA operated CFT under an agreement with MPA under which JPA was responsible for the operations and associated running costs of the terminal.

This agreement ended in February 2021 and both parties have agreed not to continue with the operation of CFT in view of economic considerations.

With the closure of CFT, the ferry service between CFT and TBFT will also cease permanently.

MPA and JPA are open to exploring other sea connectivity options between Malaysia and Singapore under a Vaccinated Travel Lane (Sea) arrangement.

I walked around this area on Tuesday and the ferry terminal is completely fenced off and many workers are active in the area.

gate of now closed down ferry terminal

warning signs of gate at closed down ferry terminal

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The mysterious second ferry service you heard about is the "bumboat" service between Changi Point Ferry Terminal (in Changi Village, not to be confused with the now closed Changi Ferry Terminal) and Tanjung Pengelih in Pengerang, Malaysia, only about 5 km away from Tg Belungkor as the bird flies (although much further away by road). These are small boats that operate without fixed schedule whenever enough passengers show up.

Unfortunately, immigration facilities on both sides remain closed and a quick call to the terminal at +6565451616 confirmed that bumboats to Malaysia are not running, and they had "no idea" when they will start running again. That said, Malaysia and Singapore have pretty much normalized travel by now, so reopening is probably a matter of time.

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    Thank you! That's pretty much what I expected too. I was at the Changi Point terminal on Tuesday but couldn't see any kind of timetable or price list or ticket window and headed off to Changi terminal just to have a look. It wasn't until I came back to my accommodation that I found out about the bumboats and missed the opportunity to find out more.
    – hippietrail
    Commented May 31, 2022 at 10:28

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