Tourists board a ferry in Zhoushan. [Photo/Zhoushan municipal administration of maritime safety]

Maritime passenger transport in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, hit a record high during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, with total passenger traffic reaching 1.52 million, up 42.3 percent year-on-year.

Passenger volume to popular areas such as Putuo Mountain rose 23.4 percent to 779,800, according to the Zhoushan municipal administration of maritime safety.

To handle the surge, authorities implemented full-chain supervision and safety measures focusing on safe, smooth, and efficient operations. Before the holiday, safety inspections were completed for 155 passenger vessels, ensuring no defective ships were put into service.

Emergency tugboats and rescue passenger ships were also deployed under the Yangtze River Delta integrated maritime emergency mechanism to ensure rapid responses to incidents.

During the return travel peak, supervision was further strengthened, with combined on-site and dynamic monitoring of nighttime voyages. Eleven major routes were monitored daily, more than 700 fishing vessels were inspected each day, and over 130 unsafe practices were corrected. The final ferry safely docked by 10:30 pm on Oct 8, marking the completion of holiday operations.