Ferry services between Discovery Bay and Mui Wo will end next month as the operator forgoes its licence extension, bemoaning a business environment made tougher by the government's proposed safety measures.
Peng Chau Kaito will allow its licence for the 25-minute route between the two Lantau towns to expire on February 9.
When that happens, it will take 40 children living in Mui Wo three times as long to get to their schools in Discovery Bay by bus.
"We've withdrawn the application. It just won't work for us," Peng Chau Kaito director Ken Wong Hon-kuen said yesterday.
He cited the Marine Department's attempts to improve safety after the 2012 Lamma ferry disaster that claimed 39 lives.
The department had proposed that vessels carrying more than 200 passengers have three workers on board at night or at times of low visibility, he said.
"But today, they told us that ferries carrying 101 to 200 people also needed to have three workers on board, up from the current two," he said. "After the accident, it has been very difficult to hire crew members."