KISARAZU, Chiba Pref. -- It was the day to hang up their sea boots after decades on the sea.

As a gigantic state-of-the-art undersea tunnel opened amid fanfare Thursday to link Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, a ferry line that carried 36 million passengers and 7 million vehicles between the two shores over 32 years silently closed.

The very last run, made by the 655-ton Aurora, departed at 8:55 p.m. from Kawasaki for Kisarazu, putting an end to the seafaring lives of the 66 male crew members and six female attendants. Most of the seamen had spent decades on the sea.