D 47
FACILITIES OF THE PORT OF HONG KONG.
All the Buoys in the Harbour are owned by the Government. There are 56 in all, 17 “A” Class, 17 "B" Class, and 22 “C” Class. The charges are $8, $6 and $4 per day respectively.
Two wharf and godown companies have berthing accommodation for 11 vessels up to 650 feet in length. Maximum depth of water alongside the wharves is 35 feet L.W.O.S.T.
Berthing charge is $60 per vessel. Fresh water pipes are laid alongside and one berth is piped for Oil Fuel.
Three public Warehouse companies have a storage capacity of 500,000 tons, of which 300,000 tons is on the mainland at Kowloon Point, adjacent to wharves, and 200,000 tons in Victoria on the island of Hong Kong, on the Harbour front. There are numerous native-owned warehouses of small capacity in both Kowloon and Hong Kong.
The average charge for General Cargo storage is from 60 cents to $1 in Kowloon and $1.20 to $1.60 in Hong Kong, per month.
Both groups of wharves at Kowloon Point have Rail connection with the Kowloon-Canton Railway, giving direct Rail communication with Canton.
Ample bunkering facilities are provided by private stocks of Coal averaging 60,000 tons, of which about one third is North China Coal, and the remainder Japanese and Formosan.
The average stock of Fuel Oil for commercial bunkering is 55,000 tons. One Oil Company has berthing facilities for 2 vessels, and another company for 1 vessel alongside the Oil installation, with a water depth of 28 feet and 23 feet L.W.S.T. respectively. Delivery can be given up to 600 tons an hour from wharf and 350 tons an hour from lighters.
There are two large Dock Companies with Dry Docks capable of taking vessels up to 750 feet on the blocks. The Docks have a depth on the sills up to 34 feet 6 inches H.W.O.S.T. In addition, there are five Patent Slipways capable of handling ships up to 325 feet in length and 3,000 tons displacement. There are several smaller yards mostly owned by Chinese, dealing with repairs to small craft and light work.
Both the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co., Limited and the Taikoo Dock and Engineering Co., Limited, have adequate modern facilities for the construction of ships of large tonnage.