Dukling: Hong Kong’s Last Authentic Junk Boat in 2026?

If you stand on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade at sunset and look out across Victoria Harbour, you will see cargo ships, ferries, and towering cruise liners cutting through the water. But among them, if you are lucky, three red sails appear on the horizon, catching the last golden light of the day.

That is Dukling, a Hong Kong junk boat built in 1955, and the last authentic Chinese junk still sailing these waters. She is not a replica, not a fiberglass imitation built for tourists, and not a theme-park prop. She is the real thing, a hand-built wooden vessel that once housed a fishing family and now carries visitors across the same harbour where hundreds of junks once worked.

How a 1955 fishing boat became Hong Kong’s last authentic junk is a story of survival, cultural identity, and one of the most dramatic rescue operations in the city’s maritime history. It involves a typhoon that sent the boat to the bottom of Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, a multi-million-dollar salvage effort, and a small group of people who refused to let a piece of Hong Kong’s heritage disappear beneath the waves.

In this article, we trace Dukling’s journey from a Macau shipyard in 1955 to its current life as a floating classroom and heritage icon on Victoria Harbour. We cover the Tanka fishing family who called it home, the French restaurateur who first restored it, the 2014 sinking that nearly ended its story, and the ongoing fight to keep a 70-year-old wooden vessel afloat in one of the most modern harbours on Earth.

Quick Summary: Dukling at a Glance

Before diving into the full history, here are the essential facts about Dukling, the last authentic Hong Kong junk boat:

• Built: 1955, in a Macau shipyard
• Original purpose: Shrimp fishing and family home for a Tanka seafaring family
• Name meaning: “Clever Duck” in Cantonese
• Length: 18 meters (approximately 70 feet)
• Weight: 50 tons
• Capacity: Up to 40 passengers (currently licensed for 36)
• Construction: Traditional tectona (teak) wood, three-masted, flat-bottomed hull with watertight bulkheads
• Sails: Red batten-rigged canvas sails on three masts
• 1985: Purchased by French owner Pierric Couderc, restored over three years
• 2001: Inspired the Hong Kong Tourism Board logo
• September 2014: Sank during Typhoon Kalmaegi at Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter
• 2015: Restored in Zhuhai, China, relaunched under new ownership
• Current status: Operating heritage sightseeing cruises on Victoria Harbour
• Owner: Hazen Tang (Cindy’s Travel / HS Travel International)
• TripAdvisor rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (297 reviews)
• GetYourGuide rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (over 1,300 reviews)

Dukling is not just the last Hong Kong junk boat. It is a floating piece of history that has survived typhoons, ownership changes, financial struggles, and decades of wear to remain the only vessel of its kind still accessible to the public.

What Is a Junk Boat? Understanding Chinese Maritime Design

A Chinese junk boat is a traditional wooden sailing vessel that dominated Asian waters for centuries. The design dates back over 2,000 years and represents one of the most significant developments in maritime engineering. Chinese junks were trading across the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia long before European ships reached those waters.

Several distinctive features set a junk apart from Western sailing ships:

• Flat-bottomed hull: Unlike the deep keels of European ships, junks have relatively flat bottoms, allowing them to navigate shallow coastal waters and river mouths.
• Watertight bulkheads: The interior is divided into separate sealed compartments. If one section floods, the boat stays afloat. This design principle was adopted by Western shipbuilders centuries later.
• Stern-mounted rudder: A single large rudder mounted at the rear, which could be raised or lowered depending on water depth. This was far more advanced than the steering oars used on European vessels for centuries.
• Batten sails: Sails made of canvas or matting, reinforced with horizontal bamboo battens. These sails are easier to manage than Western rigging and can be reefed in sections.
• Multiple masts: Dukling carries three masts, with the middle sail being the largest, a characteristic feature of traditional Hong Kong fishing junks.

The word “junk” itself comes from the Malay term “jong,” which referred to large ships. European traders adopted the term and applied it broadly to Chinese sailing vessels. Over time, the word took on connotations of something old or inferior, but a true Chinese junk was an engineering marvel of its era.

In the 15th century, the great admiral Zheng He commanded a fleet of enormous treasure junks that sailed from China to East Africa. Some of these vessels were over 120 meters long, dwarfing anything in European navies at the time. The design principles that made Zheng He’s treasure fleet possible are the same ones embodied in Dukling today.

The red sails that Dukling displays are also significant. Red dye was expensive and difficult to produce, so red sails became a symbol of wealth and prestige among fishing families. A junk with red sails announced that its owners were successful, and the tradition continues on Dukling as a visual link to that cultural history.

The 1955 Origins: A Fishing Boat Born in Macau

Dukling was built in 1955 in a Macau shipyard, constructed using traditional techniques that had changed little over centuries. Shipwrights shaped tectona wood, a durable teak species native to Southeast Asia, into the curved timbers that formed the hull. Every joint was fitted by hand, every plank sealed with traditional caulking materials.

The boat was commissioned for a Tanka family, one of the boat-dwelling communities that lived and worked on the waters of the Pearl River Delta. For the Tanka people, a boat was not just a tool for fishing. It was their home, their identity, and their entire world.

The name Dukling translates roughly to “Clever Duck” in Cantonese. The Chinese name is sometimes rendered as Yalinhao or Aap ling hou, depending on the romanization system used. The name reflects the affectionate, practical relationship between the Tanka people and the waterfowl that shared their harbour environment.

At 18 meters long and weighing 50 tons, Dukling was a substantial vessel designed for serious work. The Tanka family used it primarily for shrimp fishing, a livelihood that required patience, skill, and an intimate knowledge of the tides and currents around Hong Kong’s islands.

Life aboard a fishing junk was demanding. The family cooked, slept, and raised children on the vessel, working the harbour during the day and anchoring in sheltered spots at night. The boat was divided into functional spaces, with living quarters at the stern, fishing gear stored amidships, and a small shrine to Mazu, the sea goddess, always maintained to ensure safe passage.

Dukling was built to last. Tectona wood is naturally resistant to rot, insects, and saltwater damage, which is why it was the preferred material for boat construction throughout the region. The shipwrights who built Dukling could not have known that their work would still be floating more than 70 years later, but the quality of their craftsmanship is a major reason why it survived.

Life as a Working Fishing Boat (1955-1982)

For nearly three decades, Dukling served as a working fishing boat in the waters around Hong Kong. During these years, the harbour looked vastly different from the glittering financial district visible today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Victoria Harbour was filled with sailing vessels. Hundreds of junks, sampans, and ferry boats moved across the water each day, their red and brown sails creating a scene that defined Hong Kong for visitors and residents alike. The harbour was a working port, not a tourist backdrop, and fishing was one of the city’s major industries.

The Tanka family who owned Dukling worked the waters around Lamma Island, Lantau Island, and the southern approaches to Hong Kong Island. Shrimp fishing involved dragging nets along the seabed, a technique that required precise knowledge of the bottom contours and tidal patterns. Good catches depended on experience passed down through generations.

During this period, the Tanka community maintained many of their traditional customs. They spoke their own dialect, sang saltwater songs while working, and worshipped Tin Hau, also known as Mazu, the goddess of the sea. Tin Hau temples dotted the coastline of Hong Kong, serving as gathering points for the boat-dwelling community when they came ashore.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the world that Dukling was built for was changing rapidly. Land reclamation projects were reshaping the harbour, and the fishing industry was modernizing. Younger Tanka people increasingly moved ashore, seeking education and jobs in the growing economy. The era of the working sailing junk was coming to an end.

Dukling’s fishing days were numbered. But instead of being scrapped or abandoned, the boat was about to begin an entirely new chapter, one that would transform it from a working vessel into a cultural icon.

The 1985 French Owner and First Restoration

In 1985, Dukling was purchased by Pierric Couderc, a French expatriate living in Hong Kong. Couderc recognized the cultural and historical value of the vessel at a time when most wooden junks were being sold for scrap or left to rot in typhoon shelters.

The purchase began a three-year restoration project that returned Dukling to its original design. Couderc spent approximately 2 million Hong Kong dollars on the project, hiring traditional craftsmen in Aberdeen who still possessed the skills needed to work on a wooden junk.

This was not a cosmetic renovation. The restoration involved replacing damaged timbers with new tectona wood, re-rigging the sails using traditional batten construction, and rebuilding the interior while preserving the original layout. The craftsmen who worked on Dukling during this period used techniques that had been passed down through generations of Chinese shipwrights.

Couderc’s restoration was faithful to the boat’s original character. He did not add modern amenities or alter the fundamental design. The goal was to preserve Dukling as an authentic representation of a traditional Hong Kong fishing junk, not to turn it into a pleasure yacht.

This first restoration established a pattern that would continue throughout Dukling’s life: each owner has been responsible for preserving the boat’s authenticity while ensuring it remains seaworthy. Couderc’s work in the 1980s laid the foundation for everything that followed, including the much larger restoration that would be needed after the 2014 sinking.

Tourism Era and Hong Kong Icon (1986-2014)

After the restoration was completed, Dukling entered its tourism era. The boat was chartered by the Hong Kong Tourism Board as part of its Cultural Kaleidoscope program, an initiative designed to showcase the city’s cultural heritage to visitors from around the world.

This partnership proved transformative for Dukling’s public profile. As part of the Cultural Kaleidoscope program, the boat offered free harbour cruises to tourists, giving them a chance to experience Victoria Harbour from the deck of an authentic Chinese junk. For many visitors, this was the highlight of their trip to Hong Kong.

In 2001, Dukling achieved a level of recognition that few boats ever reach. The Hong Kong Tourism Board adopted a design inspired by Dukling as its official logo. The image of a three-masted junk with red sails, set against the Victoria Harbour skyline, became the visual identity that the city presented to the world. That logo concept, born from Dukling’s silhouette, has appeared on tourism materials, advertisements, and official documents for decades.

The connection to the Tourism Board logo was no accident. When Western traders first arrived in Hong Kong by sea, the sight that greeted them was a harbour full of red-sailed junks. That image became synonymous with Hong Kong itself, and Dukling was the physical embodiment of that iconography.

During this period, Dukling also appeared in several major film and television productions. The boat featured in “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” serving as an authentic backdrop for scenes set in mid-century Hong Kong. It also appeared in “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Tai-Pan,” the film adaptation of James Clavell’s novel about the founding of Hong Kong.

These appearances further cemented Dukling’s status as the definitive Hong Kong junk boat. When filmmakers needed an authentic period vessel, Dukling was the obvious choice. The boat’s filmography, spanning multiple decades, adds another layer to its cultural significance.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Dukling continued operating harbour cruises while the city around it transformed at an astonishing pace. Land reclamation pushed the harbour’s edges outward, new skyscrapers rose along the Central waterfront, and the old Kai Tak Airport, where planes had landed dramatically between apartment blocks, was decommissioned and replaced with reclaimed land.

Through all of these changes, Dukling sailed on, a living link to the harbour’s past. But in September 2014, the boat faced its greatest challenge yet.

Typhoon Kalmaegi: The Sinking (September 2014)

On September 16, 2014, Typhoon Kalmaegi struck Hong Kong. The storm brought powerful winds and heavy rain, and the Hong Kong Observatory issued a Number 8 storm warning, the third-highest level in the city’s warning system.

Dukling was moored at Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, a designated safe harbor on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Typhoon shelters are specifically designed to protect vessels during storms, with breakwaters and calm water that allow boats to ride out severe weather. Hundreds of boats shelter there during every major typhoon.

But Dukling did not survive the night. The boat took on water and sank to the bottom of the typhoon shelter, coming to rest at a depth of approximately 18 meters. The exact cause of the sinking has been attributed to the severity of the storm conditions and the vessel’s age, though the full details remain a matter of discussion among maritime enthusiasts.

For three months, Dukling sat underwater. The boat that had been a fixture of Victoria Harbour for decades, that had inspired a tourism logo and appeared in major films, was now resting on the muddy bottom of a typhoon shelter. Many assumed that was the end.

Wooden vessels that have been submerged for extended periods typically suffer catastrophic damage. Saltwater penetrates the wood, marine organisms colonize the hull, and the structural integrity of the vessel is compromised. Salvaging and restoring a boat that has spent three months underwater is an enormous undertaking, both technically and financially.

The British owner at the time was contacted about the situation. But the costs and logistics of salvaging and restoring a 50-ton wooden vessel from 18 meters of water were daunting, and the outcome was uncertain.

This is where the story could have ended, with Dukling dismantled or abandoned. Instead, a rescue operation began that would bring the boat back from the depths and launch its most comprehensive restoration yet.

The Great Restoration (2014-2015)

The rescue of Dukling was led by Yu Lik-hang and Cheng Ching-wah, who coordinated the salvage operation and committed approximately 10 million yuan to the effort. The boat was raised from the typhoon shelter floor and transported to a shipyard in Zhuhai, China, a city on the Pearl River Delta with a long tradition of wooden boat construction.

The restoration in Zhuhai was extensive. Workers assessed the damage caused by three months of submersion, replacing timbers that had been compromised by saltwater and marine growth. New tectona wood was sourced to match the original construction, ensuring that repairs were consistent with the boat’s traditional materials.

Master craftsmen in Zhuhai possessed the traditional skills needed for this work. Wooden junk construction is a dying art, with fewer shipwrights maintaining the knowledge required to build and repair these vessels using traditional techniques. Finding a shipyard capable of the work was itself a significant achievement.

The restoration team managed to preserve approximately 80 to 90 percent of Dukling’s original materials. This was a remarkable achievement given the extent of the water damage. Where replacement was necessary, the team used identical materials and construction methods, ensuring that the restored vessel remained authentic in both appearance and structure.

During this period, Hazen Tang acquired Dukling through his company, which operates under the names Cindy’s Travel and HS Travel International. Tang, a Hong Kong businessman with a passion for the city’s maritime heritage, saw Dukling not just as a business venture but as a cultural responsibility.

Tang’s mission was clear: to preserve Dukling as a living piece of Hong Kong history and to make it accessible to the public. Under his ownership, the boat was relaunched in 2015 after the Zhuhai restoration was completed, returning to Victoria Harbour where it resumed heritage cruises.

The 2014-2015 restoration was the most significant in Dukling’s history, and it demonstrated the level of commitment required to keep a wooden vessel of this age operational. The cost, the expertise, and the time involved were substantial, and they highlight the ongoing challenge of maintaining Dukling for future generations.

What Makes Dukling Authentic vs Modern Replicas

One of the most common questions visitors ask is how to distinguish Dukling from the other junks visible on Victoria Harbour. The answer reveals what makes Dukling the last authentic Hong Kong junk boat.

Two other vessels offer harbour cruises on Victoria Harbour: Aqua Luna and V. Both are visually striking, with red sails and traditional junk profiles, but they are modern replicas built specifically for tourism. Aqua Luna was constructed in the early 2000s, and V was built even more recently. Neither was originally a fishing boat, and neither uses traditional construction methods throughout.

Here is how to tell Dukling apart from the replicas:

• Single deck: Dukling has a single deck, consistent with its original fishing boat design. The replicas have larger, multi-level structures to accommodate more passengers and amenities.
• Size: Dukling is smaller than the replicas. At 18 meters and 50 tons, it is a working vessel proportions. The replicas are significantly larger to maximize passenger capacity.
• Sail proportions: Dukling has a noticeably larger middle sail compared to the replicas, a characteristic of traditional Hong Kong fishing junks.
• Passenger capacity: Dukling carries 36 to 40 passengers. The replicas can accommodate 80 or more, reflecting their different purpose.
• Construction material: Dukling is built from traditional tectona wood throughout. The replicas use modern materials, including fiberglass components, in their construction.
• Original helm: Dukling retains its original wooden steering wheel, heavy and substantial, a direct physical link to 1955.
• White name banner: Dukling displays a white banner with its name on the hull, making it identifiable from shore.

The difference becomes immediately apparent when you step aboard. Dukling creaks and moves like a wooden boat. You can feel the texture of the original timbers, smell the aged wood and salt air, and sense that you are standing on something with decades of history embedded in every plank.

As one Reddit user described it, Dukling is “wooden and a little rickety” and “literally smells of Hong Kong’s history.” That sensory authenticity is something no replica can reproduce, no matter how carefully designed.

The Onboard Experience

Stepping aboard Dukling is a deliberate step away from the polished cruise-ship experience. The deck is wooden, the railings are simple, and the seating is open-air with basic wooden benches. This is a boat built for fishing, not for luxury, and that simplicity is exactly what makes the experience memorable.

One of the first things visitors notice is the Mazu shrine. Positioned on the boat, this small altar honors the sea goddess who has protected Chinese fishermen for centuries. The shrine is not a decorative prop added for tourists. It is a genuine element of the boat’s spiritual life, maintained by the crew as their predecessors maintained shrines on working junks for generations.

The original helm is another highlight. The wooden steering wheel is heavy, solid, and functional, not a reproduction. Visitors who have the opportunity to hold it feel the weight of decades of use. Captain Ng and other crew members who have operated Dukling speak of the wheel with respect, acknowledging that steering a traditional junk requires skill and physical strength.

Several artifacts aboard Dukling tell the story of its past. A 2005 commemorative nameplate marks a significant moment in the boat’s history. The original alarm bell, which went through the 2014 sinking and subsequent restoration, remains on board as a tangible connection to that dramatic event. These are not museum pieces behind glass. They are working parts of a living vessel.

One particularly poignant artifact is a pair of children’s makeshift life jackets. These were fashioned from available materials by the Tanka family who once lived aboard, a reminder that this boat was home to children who grew up on the water. It is a human detail that connects visitors to the real people who lived and worked on Dukling.

The outdoor seating provides a 360-degree view of Victoria Harbour. There is no enclosed cabin blocking the sightlines, no air-conditioned lounge separating you from the elements. You feel the wind, hear the water against the hull, and experience the harbour the way fishermen did for centuries. Captain Kwok Wah-hei, who has spent decades at sea, describes the view from the water as making “the skyline come to life” in a way that viewing it from shore never can.

One important detail: women are now allowed in the front section of the boat, a change from traditional fishing-junk customs where that area was restricted. This small shift reflects how Dukling has evolved from a working fishing vessel to a public heritage experience while still maintaining its cultural core.

Hong Kong’s Boat People: The Tanka Heritage

Dukling’s story cannot be fully understood without understanding the Tanka people, the boat-dwelling community who built and lived on vessels like this for centuries. The Tanka are one of the most distinctive cultural groups in the Pearl River Delta, and their way of life shaped the maritime identity of Hong Kong itself.

The Tanka people, sometimes referred to as Danjia in Mandarin, were a boat-dwelling community who lived primarily on the water. Their homes were their boats, and they fished, traded, and raised families without coming ashore for extended periods. For generations, the Tanka were considered a separate social group from land-dwelling Cantonese communities, with their own customs, dialect, and social structures.

Life on the water shaped every aspect of Tanka culture. Marriages were arranged between boat families, children learned to swim before they could walk, and the rhythms of fishing and tides dictated daily life. The Tanka were skilled fishermen, specializing in shrimp catching, fish trapping, and pearl harvesting in the waters around Hong Kong and the broader Pearl River Delta.

One of the most distinctive cultural traditions of the Tanka people is their music, known as saltwater songs or yam shui go in Cantonese. These folk songs were sung while working on the water, their melodies carrying across the harbour as fishermen hauled nets and sorted catches. Saltwater songs were more than entertainment. They were a form of communication between boats, a way of passing down stories and knowledge, and an expression of the Tanka people’s deep connection to the sea.

The Hong Kong Maritime Museum has worked to preserve this intangible cultural heritage, recognizing that the saltwater songs represent a musical tradition that is disappearing as the Tanka community assimilates into broader Hong Kong society. Libby Chan, a curator at the museum, has been instrumental in documenting and preserving these traditions, along with the broader story of Chinese junks in Hong Kong waters.

The Tanka people’s spiritual life centered on the worship of Tin Hau, also known as Mazu, the goddess of the sea. Tin Hau temples are found throughout coastal Hong Kong, and major festivals in her honor draw thousands of participants. For the Tanka, Tin Hau was not an abstract deity but a protector whose favor meant the difference between a safe voyage and disaster at sea.

When a Tanka person died, burial at sea was a common practice, reflecting the community’s belief that their lives began and ended on the water. This tradition underscores how completely the Tanka identified with the maritime environment. The harbour was not just a workplace. It was their entire world.

Today, most Tanka people have moved ashore, and the traditional boat-dwelling lifestyle has largely disappeared. Dukling stands as one of the last physical embodiments of that way of life, a floating reminder of the community that gave Hong Kong its maritime identity.

The contrast between the Tanka heritage and the modern city surrounding Victoria Harbour is stark. The same harbour that was once filled with working junks and fishing families is now dominated by container ships, cruise terminals, and the skyline of a global financial center. Dukling bridges these two worlds, carrying the memory of one into the reality of the other.

Dukling in Film and Popular Culture

Dukling’s visual appeal and historical authenticity have made it a favorite of filmmakers for decades. The boat has appeared in several major productions, serving as an authentic backdrop for stories set in Hong Kong’s past.

“Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” the 1993 biographical film about the martial arts legend, featured Dukling in scenes depicting Lee’s early life in Hong Kong. The boat’s traditional appearance provided an authentic period setting without the need for elaborate set construction.

The boat also appeared in “Around the World in 80 Days,” adding genuine local color to scenes set in Hong Kong. And in “Tai-Pan,” based on James Clavell’s epic novel about the founding of Hong Kong as a British colony, Dukling represented the type of vessel that would have dominated the harbour in the 1840s.

Beyond feature films, Dukling has been featured in numerous television commercials, tourism campaigns, and documentary projects. The Great Big Story documentary from 2018 brought Dukling’s story to millions of viewers worldwide, highlighting the boat’s history, the restoration effort, and its cultural significance. The documentary went viral, introducing Dukling to audiences who had never visited Hong Kong.

Major news outlets have also covered Dukling extensively. CNN Travel produced an in-depth feature on the boat, interviewing maritime experts and preservation advocates. The South China Morning Post has published multiple articles tracking Dukling’s journey, and BBC News covered the boat’s struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic when tourism ground to a halt.

This media presence has helped establish Dukling as more than a local attraction. The boat has become an internationally recognized symbol of Hong Kong’s maritime heritage, and its appearances in film and documentary media ensure that its story reaches new audiences continuously.

How to Visit Dukling

If you want to experience Dukling for yourself, here is what you need to know about booking a cruise on Hong Kong’s last authentic junk boat.

Boarding location: Dukling departs from the Kowloon Public Pier at Tsim Sha Tsui, near the Avenue of Stars. This is on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour, easily accessible by MTR (Tsim Sha Tsui Station) or the Star Ferry from Central.

Operating schedule: Tours typically run from 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM, with the boat closed on Wednesdays. The evening sailing times are designed to coincide with the Symphony of Lights, the daily light and sound show that illuminates the Victoria Harbour skyline at 8:00 PM. The timing means that the sunset and early evening cruises offer the best photography conditions.

Tour duration: The standard Dukling cruise lasts approximately 45 minutes to one hour, depending on weather and harbour traffic conditions. The boat sails across Victoria Harbour, providing views of both the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon shorelines.

Booking: Tickets can be purchased through the official Dukling website or through third-party platforms including GetYourGuide and Klook. Because Dukling carries a limited number of passengers (36 to 40), tickets can sell out, particularly for sunset sailings during peak tourist season. Advance booking is strongly recommended.

What to expect: The cruise is conducted primarily in English and Cantonese. The boat is open-air, so dress for the weather. Comfortable, non-slip shoes are advisable, as the wooden deck can be slippery. The boat has limited restroom facilities, so plan accordingly.

Weather considerations: Dukling’s operations are weather-dependent. In strong winds, the middle sail may not be raised for safety reasons, though the boat typically still operates using engine power. Typhoons and severe weather can result in cancellations. Check the official website or booking platform for updates before your scheduled cruise.

Accessibility: Dukling is a traditional wooden vessel with steps and narrow passageways. It is not wheelchair accessible, and visitors with mobility concerns should contact the operator in advance to discuss accommodations. The boat’s “rickety” character, which many visitors find charming, can also be challenging for those with balance issues.

Best time to go: Forum users and reviewers consistently recommend the sunset sailing for the best experience. The golden light on the red sails against the modern skyline creates a visual contrast that captures the essence of Hong Kong’s past and present coexisting. The transition from daylight to the illuminated skyline during the Symphony of Lights is widely described as the most memorable moment of the cruise.

Private charters: Dukling is available for private events, including weddings, corporate functions, and special celebrations. Private charter allows you to customize the route and schedule, though availability is limited due to the boat’s regular public cruise commitments.

Dukling’s Future: Preserving a Living Relic

Keeping a 70-year-old wooden vessel seaworthy is an ongoing challenge, and Dukling’s future is not guaranteed. The costs of maintenance, the scarcity of traditional craftsmen, and the economic pressures of operating a small heritage business all pose real threats.

Wooden boats require constant attention. The hull must be regularly inspected for rot, the caulking between planks must be maintained, and the sails and rigging need periodic replacement. Every few years, Dukling must be hauled out of the water for a comprehensive survey and repair cycle. These operations are expensive and time-consuming.

Hazen Tang, Dukling’s current owner, has spoken openly about the financial challenges of maintaining the vessel. Unlike large tourism companies that operate fleets of replica junks, Dukling is a single boat operated by a small team. There is no government subsidy specifically dedicated to preserving the vessel, despite its cultural significance.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted Dukling’s vulnerability. When Hong Kong closed its borders to international visitors in 2020, tourism dried up almost overnight. Without ticket revenue, the costs of keeping Dukling moored and maintained became a serious burden. BBC News covered the boat’s struggle during this period, and there were genuine concerns about whether Dukling could survive the pandemic economically.

The boat did survive, resuming operations as travel restrictions eased. But the pandemic served as a warning about the fragility of heritage preservation when it depends on tourism revenue alone. Tang and his team continue to seek ways to make Dukling financially sustainable, including private charters, educational programs, and partnerships with cultural institutions.

The broader question is what happens when the current generation of traditional craftsmen retires. The skills needed to maintain a wooden junk are not widely taught, and finding shipwrights who can work with tectona wood using traditional methods is increasingly difficult. Without these skills, vessels like Dukling cannot be preserved.

Dukling’s future depends on a combination of factors: committed ownership, public interest, skilled craftsmanship, and perhaps eventually, formal recognition and support as a cultural heritage asset. The boat has survived for over 70 years against considerable odds, and each year it continues sailing is a small victory for the preservation of Hong Kong’s maritime identity.

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Conclusion

How a 1955 fishing boat became Hong Kong’s last authentic junk is a story that spans a changing city, a disappearing culture, and the determination of people who believe that some things are worth preserving. Dukling is more than a tourist attraction. It is a bridge between Hong Kong’s origins as a fishing village and its present as a global metropolis, a physical reminder that the harbour’s history is still alive if you know where to look for it.

If you visit Hong Kong, take the sunset cruise. Stand on the wooden deck, feel the weight of the original steering wheel, smell the salt and aged timber, and watch the red sails catch the last light against a skyline of glass and steel. That contrast, between the oldest vessel on the harbour and the newest towers on shore, is what makes Dukling an experience no replica can replicate.