MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1978
BUSY YEAR FOR PORT OF HONG KONG IN 1977
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THE PORT OF HONG KONG EXPERIENCED A VERY BUSY YEAR IN 1977. WITH AN AVERAGE OF 250 VESSELS ENTERING OR CLEARING DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT, ABOUT 90,000 VESSELS COMPRISING OCEAN-GOING SHIPS, RIVER TRADE STEAMERS, HYDROFOILS AND LOCAL CRAFT WITH A COMBINED NET TONNAGE OF MORE THAN 97 MILLION ENTERED AND CLEARED THE PORT OF HONG KONG LAST YEAR.
THESE VESSELS LOADED AND UNLOADED A TOTAL OF 25.2 MILLION TONNES OF CARGO IN 1977, COMPARED WITH 22.97 MILLION TONNES IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
CONTAINER ISED CARGO, EXCLUDING FUEL OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, REPRESENTED 48.9 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL CARGO TONNAGE HANDLED LAST YEAR COMPARED WITH 44.6 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
IN TERMS OF T.E.U.'S (TWENTY-FOOT EQUIVALENT UNIT), THE TOTAL CONTAINER THROUGHPUT WAS 1.26 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 22.3 PER CENT OVER THE 1976 THROUGHPUT OF 1.03 MILLION T.E.U.'S.
THE STATISTICS ALSO SHOWED THAT 8,916 OCEAN-GOING VESSELS WITH A COMBINED NET TONNAGE OF 42.8 MILLION ARRIVED HERE IN 1977, REPRESENTING INCREASES OF 10.5 PER CENT AND 16.9 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF CARGO UNLOADED BY THESE VESSELS STOOD AT 17.2 MILLION TONNES LAST YEAR, AN INCREASE OF 11 PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
DURING THE YEAR, A TOTAL OF 8,969 OCEAN-GOING VESSELS WITH A COMBINED NET TONNAGE OF 42.9 MILLION CLEARED THE PORT OF HONG KONG, REPRESENTING INCREASES OF 10.3 AND 17.2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF CARGO LOADED BY THESE VESSELS WAS 6.19 MILLION TONNES, AN INCREASE OF 8.8 PER CENT COMPARED WITH 1976.
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RIVER TRADE. MAINLY BETWEEN HONG KONG AND MACAU ALSO SHOWED A SLIGHT INCREASE IN 1977 WITH 71,433 VESSELS OF 11.6 MILLION NET TONNES ENTERING AND CLEARING, COMPARED WITH 70,823 VESSELS OF 11.4 MILLION NET TONNES IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
CARGO FROM THE RIVER TRADE THAT WAS LOADED AND DISCHARGED HERE AMOUNTED TO 1.8 MILLION TONNES, SLIGHTLY MORE THAN IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TRAVELLING TO AND FROM MACAU INCREASED BY ABOUT TEN PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR TO 5.1 MILLION.
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