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superior quality and workmanship, and specialized vessels such as fire-floats, ferries, tankers, tugs, lighters and vessels for the Govern- ments of many countries. Ship repairs and conversions have con- tinued to provide a steady source of employment and the reputa- tion of the Colony's ship-repair firms enables them to obtain a fair share of this type of work in competition with similar ports in the Far East. Among the work carried out during the year was the reconstruction and air-conditioning of a large passenger vessel, the dry docking of the tanker Faith which was the largest ship ever to be docked in Hong Kong, and the re-fit of naval vessels and auxiliaries of several nations.
New construction, repair work, conversions and the thousand and one needs of vessels calling at the port during the year kept the Government marine surveyors and the surveyor representatives of Lloyds' Register of Shipping, Bureau Veritas and the American Bureau of Shipping fully employed. The ships surveys staff of the Marine Department was increasingly occupied during the year with tonnage computations and in checking standards of crew accom- modation for new tonnage and for ships whose owners were apply- ing for registration under the British flag. The Hong Kong Registry of Shipping lists over 480 vessels under the British flag, totalling some 700,000 gross register tons. Of these, more than 150 ships are of more than 500 tons gross. The figures show that there were fewer vessels registered in Hong Kong during the year, but the increase in tonnage indicates a trend toward larger vessels. The Colony still remains one of the chief centres for tramp-ship owning, in spite of the world-wide recession in shipping, and a good deal of chartering business finds its way to Hong Kong. Due to the shipping recession many shipowners have had to lay up ships and Hong Kong has proved a popular choice for this as anchorage dues are very reasonable. In July ships in ever-increasing numbers began to be laid up in the Colony and it was decided to allocate berths to them in outlying waters such as Tolo Harbour and north of Lantau Island.
The large number of small craft which operate in the harbour create a special problem in density of water-borne traffic. There are some 23,500 vessels in this category, of which over 5,200 are mechanized, and examinations are compulsory for local certificates