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On the island of Hong Kong there is a deep water berth 1,223 feet in length capable of accommodating vessels with up to 30 feet draught. Storage space for 20,000 tons measurement is available at this berth with 110,000 tons storage space in other godowns operated by the same company.
Government maintains for public hire 46 moorings, 17 "A" Class moorings suitable for vessels up to 600 feet in length and 29 "B" Class for vessels up to 450 feet in length. Of the "A" Class moorings seven are special typhoon moorings.
In addition to the signal station on Waglan Island covering the eastern approaches to the port, three harbour signal stations provide 24-hours ship-shore visual signals communications covering all the anchorages in the harbour and the western entrance.
The signal stations at Waglan and Green Island are fitted with radio telephone which enables first information on all ships sighted to be passed to the marine control tower for the Port authorities, owners and agents.
A recent survey of the shipbuilding, ship-repairing and marine engineering establishments in the Colony showed that there were some 207 different concerns engaged in this work.
These range
from small privately-owned boatyards constructing junks and smaller fishing craft to large well-equipped modern establishments capable of constructing vessels up to 500 feet in length and undertaking all types of major overhaul repair including docking on vessels up to 700 feet in length.
The shipbuilding, ship repair and marine engineering establish- ments in the Colony have now been re-equipped and modernized and are well able to undertake major overhauls and repairs of all types, including the dry docking of vessels up to 750 feet in length, 88 foot beam with a maximum draught not exceeding 33 feet. Altogether there are seven graving docks and 6 patent slipways capable of handling vessels of 300 feet in length and upwards, and a large number of slipways for handling smaller vessels.
Regular communications by sea are available to most parts of the world. There are 21 shipping companies operating weekly. fortnightly or monthly services to the East and West coast ports of North America, and 8 companies with weekly or fortnightly services to China coast ports; fortnightly or weekly services are maintained by 19 companies to Japan, 9 to the Philippines, 4 to Australia, 5 to the United Kingdom, and 8 to other ports in Europe.
Civil Aviation
The airport of Hong Kong is at Kai Tak on the north shore of Kowloon Bay and only 15 minutes' drive from the hotel at the southern point of Kowloon peninsula where most of the airlines have their booking offices and where many transit passengers stay. During the year much work has been done to improve the airfield and with the resurfacing and lengthening of the runways it is capable of taking aircraft such as the Canadair, Constellation and Douglas DC-6. The adjacent marine base is admirably suitable for flying boats but there are at present no scheduled services using this type of aircraft.
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