TRANSPORT
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Marine Facilities
The Technical Services Division of the Civil Engineering Department inspects and maintains public marine facilities including public piers and landings, public cargo- working areas and light beacon structures. It oversees the maintenance dredging of fairways and mooring buoys.
In 1995, the Port Works Division of the Civil Engineering Department finished building two jetties and carried out the planning for six piers.
The Port
The port handles about 90 per cent, by weight, of the territory's trade. In 1995, Hong Kong's port remained the world's busiest container port, handling some 12.5 million TEUS (20-foot equivalent units). It also remained one of the busiest in terms of vessel arrivals and departures, and cargo and passenger throughput.
About 214 000 ocean-going and river trade vessels arrived in Hong Kong during the year. These vessels handled over 169 million tonnes of cargo and around 21 million international passengers, most of whom were carried on the world's largest fleet of high-speed ferries.
Container handling, vessel arrivals and departures, cargo, and passenger numbers saw a growth rate in 1995 of 13 per cent, 11 per cent, 20 per cent and one per cent, respectively, compared with 1994. Details of international movements of vessels, passengers and cargo are given at Appendix 41.
Port Administration
The Marine Department administers the port. The department's mission is to promote excellence in marine services. As a further step to meet the ever-growing demand for its services, the department plans to commercialise some of its operations with the aim of becoming a self-financing entity within the government.
Advice from users and operators of port facilities is an important factor in port administration. A wide range of private-sector interests are represented on advisory bodies such as the Port Development Board, which advises the government on port planning and development; the Pilotage Advisory Committee, which advises the Director of Marine on all matters relating to marine pilotage services; the Port Operations Committee, which advises the Director of Marine on the operational needs of the port; and the Provisional Local Vessel Advisory Committee, which advises on local craft matters.
Vessel Traffic
The Marine Department's Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) helps ensure a safe and efficient marine traffic flow in the densely-populated waters in and around the port. The movements of ocean-going vessels are directly regulated from the VTC through a computer-assisted radar network, a database on ships and VHF radio telephone communications.
In order to improve radar coverage in the congested western harbour waters, a new radar station was installed on Kau Yi Chau in 1994. A further extension to coverage will be achieved with the planned construction of a radar station in Mirs Bay scheduled to open in mid-1998. All ocean-going vessels of 300 gross registered tonnes