A ferry service connecting Fukuoka in southwest Japan with South Korea's Busan resumed Friday, becoming the first regular international sea route Japan has restarted since suspending ship passenger arrivals due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ferry operator said.
JR Kyushu Jet Ferry's newly built high-speed ship the Queen Beetle, which can carry up to 502 passengers, left Hakata port in Fukuoka on Friday morning with about 130 people on board.
The resumption of ferry services between the two cities for the first time since March 2020 was in line with the easing of Japan's border restrictions last month.