>Press Releases Home > Publications and press releases > Press Releases Hong Kong strengthens itself as regional hub port - By Roger Tupper, Director of Marine We are blessed in Hong Kong with being located at a number of crossroads. Climatically we lie at the boundary of the tropics and temperate zones enjoying reasonably calm seas throughout the year except the occasional typhoon in summer. We are at the mouth of the Pearl River whose waters extend through Guangsi Province and into Guichow and flows through Hong Kong to the blue waters of the South China Sea. We also lie at the center of East Asia almost equal distant sailing from the north Asian ports in Japan, Korea and the Yellow Sea ports of the Mainland and to the South the key ports of Singapore and Bangkok. This favourable location has given rise to Hong Kong’s development as a center of trade from Asia to the world. In the last decade Hong Kong has held the title of world’s busiest container port no less than eight times and port throughput continues to grow with ocean going ship arrivals increasing almost 10% in 2005. Our deep waters also provide passage for ships to the Shenzhen ports at Shekou and Chiwan in the west and Yantian in the east adding a further 10,000 ship transits per annum. Shenzhen now ranks as the 4 th largest container port in the world. The combined size of Hong Kong and Shenzhen ports creates some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Individually these ships are reaching mammoth sizes and Hong Kong will host the world’s largest containership, the Emma Maersk, on 15 th October during her maiden voyage. This ship is almost 400 metres long and over 56 metres wide or in sporting terms it can accommodate up to five football fields on its decks. These ships are highly sophisticated, almost fully computer controlled, with electronic navigation charts, global positioning systems and multiple radars to track other ships. However, when they approach Hong Kong, additional safeguards are provided by Marine Department. To ensure that ships can sail through our waters safely and efficiently, the department employs a comprehensive traffic management system using 12 radars and capable of tracking 4,000 moving vessels and 1,000 stationary targets at any one time, harbour patrols, vessel traffic services, the provision of mooring buoys and rigorous enforcement of major international maritime conventions. Whilst in Hong Kong Marine Department surveyors carry out port state inspections of these ships to ensure they meet all international safety, security and environmental design and operational standards. In 2005 we inspected 500 ocean going ships and detained 85 ships and required them to bring the vessels up to relevant Conventions’ requirements with respect to safety, pollution prevention, security and safety management. We are not only a trading port in the physical sense with ships and cargoes passing before our eyes daily. We are also controlling a fleet of over 1,100 ships totaling over 31 million gross tonnage, making Kong Kong one of the largest maritime centers in the world. The largest of these ships is a tanker capable of carrying over 310,000 tonnes of crude oil. The Marine Department exercises effective and successful quality controls over these ships to ensure their compliance with the international standards in safety, environmental protection, seafarers' welfare and maritime security requirements. As equally important mission of Marine Department is to regulate the 14,000 local vessels and 210,000 visits per year by river trade and coastal vessels from the Mainland. This involves approval of designs, inspection at vessels and equipment, certification of the crews, third party insurance requirements as well as the day to day enforcement of vessel traffic rules by a fleet of patrol craft and supported by other departments of the government such as the Marine Police. Laws regulating these vessels from sampans to sleek hulled pleasure cruises, speed boats to slow barges has recently been reviewed. Sub-legislation of the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance has recently been tabled to Legislative Council and are expected to be in force by end of this year. The department’s Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC), coordinates all available resources in Hong Kong, as well as from the Mainland and other governments, to perform search and rescue operations for maritime distress situations occurring within Hong Kong waters and the major part of the South China Sea covering a sea area of about 450 000 square nautical miles. Under the coordination of MRCC, the Hong Kong rescue and search teams mounted two fearless operations to save 91 Mainland crew members that were in distress off Shagchuan Dao, Southwest of Hong Kong during Typhoon Prapiroon on August 3 and 4 this year. The high professionalism and spirit of humanitarianism of this elite team have gained approval from the Chinese leaders, who have sent the Vice-Minister of Communications, Mr Huang Xianyao, to covey their thanks to the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government and the rescue and search team.. The Marine Department also has a mission to keep the port of Hong Kong clean. The environment protection measures taken included the provision of efficient marine refuse cleaning service, readiness in dealing with oil spills and new local legislation will soon be in place to implement international law on sewage control and air emissions controlfrom ships. Our mission is “We are One in Promoting Excellence in Marine Service”. The Marine Department will spare no efforts in strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a world class maritime and logistics centre Ends
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