65.
No. 1914
HONGKONG.
ACQUISITION AND RE-ARRANGEMENT OF MOORINGS.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, October 22nd, 1914.
'No. 285.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, HONGKONG, 12th August, 1914.
SIR, I have the honour to inform you that for some time past this Government has had under consideration the question of acquiring the private moorings for ocean going vessels in Victoria Harbour.
Captain BASIL TAYLOR mooted this subject in the interests of the improvement of the accommodation for ocean going steamers as long ago as the year 1902. He reverted to the subject in 1904 and correspondence ensued with the Chamber of Commerce without any definite result.
Owing to the increased and increasing size of ocean going steamers the question has now become urgent, and I have therefore to submit proposals for dealing with it.
2. The system that has grown up in this Colony is for the Harbour Master under Section 28 (2) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance to permit steamship companies or their agents to lay private moorings at their own expense in Victoria Harbour for the use of their steamers subject to the regulations to be found in Table 0 (a) of the Ordinance.
The result is that the old established shipping firms, many of whom employ steamers of small tonnage engaged in the coasting trade of China or in local trade with the Philip- pines, Japan and Siam, monopolise many of the best berths in the deepest water, to the prejudice of newly established lines of steamers trading with Europe, Canada and America which employ vessels of heavy tonnage and deep draught. Many of these have to lie at a considerable distance from the business centre of the City, and complaints have been made in recent years by the Agents of some of the largest vessels frequenting the Port that they are forced out into distant and inconvenient parts of the harbour. Suggestions have even been made that to meet the demand for berths for deep draught vessels, the dredging of some of the more remote portions of the anchorage should be resorted to.
3. To remedy this unsatisfactory condition and to avoid recourse to dredging, I have to recommend (a) that the Government exercise the power conferred by Section 3 of Table O (a) to require the removal of all the 43 private moorings at present laid in Victoria Har- bour; (b) that it acquire by purchase 39 of these buoys which have been valued by a Com- mittee consisting of the Acting Harbour Master, the Government Marine Surveyor and three local experts appointed by me to investigate the matter; (c) that it re-arrange and where necessary relay these moorings in accordance with the scheme illustrated on the accompany- ing charts; and (d) that the owners of the remaining three moorings which are useless for the purpose of the Government be required to remove them. They can dispose of them as they may think fit. If they have vessels that require moorings their vessels
can be accom- modated at Government moorings. I may mention that this action has already been taken in respect of one of these moorings whose owners have now no ships to moor.
*Not printed.