would then catch it with a long billhook. This is still done today. On his retirement in 1898, Naorojee sold the company to The Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited, at that time owned by Jardine, Matheson & Co. and Sir Paul Chater. A pier constructed on the western end of Salisbury Road opened in 1906, it was a fine massive structure at that time and it also had a separate compartment for the first and second class. However, it was destroyed by a typhoon in September 1906. In the early 1950s, construction of the present twin-piered terminal commenced on both sides of Victoria Harbour, designed to handle 55 million passenger trips a year. The structure was completed in 1957, concurrent with the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier built on the island side. At the turn of the century, Hong Kong currency and Canton currency were both accepted as legal tender in Hong Kong. In the autumn of 1912, following a devaluation, the Star Ferry caused a controversy by insisting, together with the tramways, that payment had to be made in Hong Kong currency only. Canton coinage would no longer be accepted.<ref name=floats>Richard Frost, History floats aboard Star ferries , The Standard, 1 May 1998</ref> In 1924, the Yaumati Ferry operated the route to Kowloon in a duopoly. In 1933, the Star Ferry made history by building the Electric Star, the first diesel electric passenger ferry of its kind. By 1941, the company had six vessels. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the competing Yaumati Ferry was allowed to continue, while the Japanese commandeered the Star Ferry for their own purposes. The Golden Star and the Meridian Star were used to transport prisoners of war from Sham Shui Po to Kai Tak Airport. In 1943, the Golden Star was bombed and sunk in the Canton River by the Americans, and the Electric Star was sunk in the harbour. After the war, the ferries were recovered and returned to service. The Star Ferry accepted the request by the government of operating the Hung Hom route in 1963. It almost failed to operate as the company thought it could not make profit from it. But with the reconsideration by the Star Ferry, the route was confirmed to be operating starting from March 1965. Until the opening of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in 1972, the Star Ferry remained the main means of