To enhance the quality of maritime passenger transport and establish models of excellence, the Maritime and Port Bureau (MPB) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) launched the inaugural TAIWAN Hi Maritime Brand Certification and held an award ceremony to-day (June 26). MOTC Deputy Minister Kuo-shien Lin, MPB Director-General Hsieh-lung Yeh, Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) Chairman Yung-hui Chou, and Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) President Chi-yi Chang all attended the event. The ceremony honored mari-time operating units with outstanding performance, jointly witnessing a critical milestone in the continuous optimization and institutional devel-opment of maritime service quality in Taiwan.
  Deputy Minister Kuo-shien Lin of the MOTC stated in his speech that he commended the MPB for collaborating with the TDRI to jointly pro-mote the TAIWAN Hi Maritime Brand. This cutting-edge collaboration combines industry and academic experts to transform the image of maritime transport and establish a consistent service brand through interdisciplinary cooperation. Deputy Minister Lin further stated that in the past, maritime transport focused more on cargo, operating under the mindset that "as long as goods are loaded and unloaded, it is sufficient," which resulted in low requirements for port facilities. Consequently, past facilities at offshore is-lands and ferry terminals were mostly functional bottlenecks where “pas-sengers simply had to make do,” with little thought given to aesthetics or convenience. Moving forward, this branding initiative aims to shift the cul-ture from “making do” to “pursuing quality,” comprehensively upgrading the facility aesthetics of commercial ports and ferry terminals across the country. Deputy Minister Lin emphasized that the government has invested NT$13.1 billion in recent years to upgrade port construction and provided NT$4.3 billion in subsidies to replace public and private vessels. In the fu-ture, design thinking will be integrated into port construction and service to create a high-quality maritime travel environment that is user-friendly and safe.
  MPB Director-General Hsieh-lung Yeh noted that the TAIWAN Hi maritime passenger transport brand was jointly created by the MPB and the TDRI. Over the past five years, relevant units completed the new construc-tion and renovation of 15 maritime passenger terminals, as well as the pro-curement and construction of 10 public and private ferries. By introducing the TAIWAN Hi brand design, Taiwan’s "Blue Highway" passenger termi-nals and vessels have been completely transformed—offering a comfortable, premium boarding experience for domestic and international travelers as well as residents of offshore islands. Last year, the MPB even received the National Industrial Innovation Award, which was personally presented by Premier Jung-tai  Cho. Today's brand certification award ceremony rep-resents the extension and expanded reach of the TAIWAN Hi brand, which the MPB hopes to develop into the "Michelin Guide" symbol for Taiwan's blue highway.
  The certification was implemented with the assistance of the TDRI, with President Chi-yi Chang serving as the chief convener of the jury panel. Experts from industry, government, and academia in the fields of transpor-tation, spatial planning, service experience, brand marketing, universal de-sign, and business management were invited to participate. The evaluation process went through stages including document reviews, on-site inspec-tions, and final selections. The jury panel visited various terminals and ves-sels, evaluating the travel experience from a passenger's perspective across all service touchpoints .
  In the past, the general public viewed maritime transport as merely a point-to-point utility. However, as expectations for travel quality rise, maritime services must evolve from “merely getting passengers to their destination” to actively fulfilling their experiential needs: “ensuring travel is convenient, comfortable, safe, and user-friendly.” Through professional selection and on-site examinations, this certification hopes to guide the maritime industry from conventional transport thinking gradually toward human-centered travel experience service thinking.
  Representing the jury panel, Professor Ching-lung Liao of National Taiwan University’s Department of Civil Engineering shared that all participating units this year demonstrated a high degree of dedication and a spirit of continuous improvement, and the overall performance was outstanding. The inaugural selection not only valued the improvement of hardware facilities, but also focused on whether services were derived from passenger needs and responded to aspects such as spatial flow, information guidance, barrier-free environments, brand identification, service processes, and operational management. Many units have gradually incorporated service quality, aesthetic design, and passenger care into daily operations, demonstrating the results of the continuous upgrading of maritime services in Taiwan.
  After a comprehensive evaluation, the final representative and exemplary winning units were selected for this year. One gold, one silver, and one bronze award were presented respectively for the Travel Terminal Category and the Passenger Vessel Category, becoming critical benchmarks for the improvement of maritime service quality in Taiwan. For this year's Travel Terminal Category, the Budai Port Passenger Terminal won the gold award, while the Makung Ferry Waiting Room of the City Bus and Ferry Management Office, Penghu County Government and the West Passenger Terminal of Keelung Port received the silver and bronze awards, respectively. In the Passenger Vessel Category, the Penghu Ferry won the gold award, while the New Taima ferry and the South–North Star received the silver and bronze awards, respectively. These winning units not only demonstrated excellent service results but also serve as blueprints for other terminals and shipping carriers looking to optimize their own services. 
  The MPB stated that the significance of the TAIWAN Hi Maritime Brand Certification lies not only in selecting outstanding cases but also in driving the growth of the overall industry through institutionalized certification tools. In the future, the bureau will continue to offer industry guidance and certification, encouraging more maritime operators to invest in public service innovation and quality improvement to jointly create a comfortable, user-friendly, and brand-driven maritime service environment, enabling Taiwan's maritime transport to become a critical force connecting island life, promoting local tourism, and developing maritime culture.

Contact person: Wen-yun Du, Chief, Maritime Affairs Division
Contact number: 02-89788020