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COMMUNICATIONS
delivery of the small parcels which make up a considerable propor- tion of the cargoes handled in the Port.
Three of the major oil companies have depots in the Colony and all provide first class bunkering services either at their own wharves or by lighter to any berth in the Port. Fresh water, the supply of which may be limited during the winter months, and coal are also supplied at the ship.
Officers of the Mercantile Marine Office supervised the engage- ment and discharge of over fifty nine thousand seamen during the year ending March 1960. The Examination Centre at Hong Kong gives full facilities for examinations for all Certificates of Com- petency of Commonwealth validity, and for Certificates in Radar Maintenance and as Radar Observer. The majority of candidates receive instruction at the Hong Kong Technical College which runs comprehensive courses in all these subjects.
A Port Welfare Committee serves the needs of crews of visiting ships, allocating money provided by private donation and Govern- ment grant to organizations devoted to this work.
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Two closely linked port activities, shipbuilding and shiprepair- ing, had a satisfactory year. Over one hundred and fifty vessels were built for local and overseas owners, reflecting the reputa- tion enjoyed by these firms at a time when the world ship- building industry is showing a definite recession. Economy of cost and time are two features of shiprepairing in Hong Kong, factors which encourage an increasing number of shipowners to send their ships to the Port for repairs, alterations, surveys and general main- tenance. One major oil company has a programme for the con- version here of some of its tankers into Far East traders. Many other types of ships arrive each month for docking and repairs.
The volume of new construction and repair work and the needs of the thousands of ships calling at the Port have kept the Govern- ment surveyors and the resident representatives of Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Norske Veritas, and the American Bureau of Shipping fully employed. The Ship Surveys staff of the Marine Department, apart from ensuring the observance of the International Conventions on Safety of Life at Sea and Load Lines, were fully occupied during 1960 in tonnage computations and in checking standards of crew accommodation for the new