REPORT
Introduction
1.
The membership of the
the Port Welfare Committee is drawn from representatives of shipping community and Government departments which are concerned with the welfare of visiting seafarers on board ships calling at Hong Kong.
Activities
2.
The purpose of the Committee is to ensure that proper arrangements are made to safeguard the welfare of and provide recreational facilities for visiting seafarers of all nationalities. This is achieved by providing financial support to the Sailor's Home and Missions to Seamen, the Apostleship of the Sea, and the Danish Seamen's Church, Hong Kong. These organisations are unable to appeal directly to the public for financial support and can only derive their income from the services they offer, such as restaurant facilities and charges for accommodation in the case of Sailors' Home and Missions to Seamen. For Danish Seamen's Church their main alternative source of income is the subsidy from the relevant Danish body. The Committee's subventions are therefore very important
sources of funds for them.
Finance
3.
The
Committee relies upon donations from the shipping and commercial community for its financial
its
resources. The total amount of donations collected in 1990-91 was $106,888 as against $75,700 in the previous year. In the same year, a subvention of $80,000 was granted to the Sailors' Home and Missions to Seamen, the Apostleship of the Sea and $8,000 to the Danish Seamen's Church.
Shipping
4.
40,865 ocean-going vessels visited Hong Kong in 1990 as against 38,141 in 1989. Hong Kong remained as one of the world's busiest container ports, with 5.1 million 20-foot containers handled at the Kwai Chung Terminals in 1990 as against 4.5 million in 1989, showing a growth of 14.3%. About 70% of the ships stayed in port for less than two days in 1990.
Employment
5.
As
The situation remained
remained more or less the same as last year. the shipping industry is still facing a shortage of manpower, especially that of young officers, it is relatively easy for foreign seafarers with the appropriate qualification to find a sea-faring job in Hong Kong especially as junior officers or engineers.
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