FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1992
6
HONG KONG WORLD'S BUSIEST CONTAINER HANDLER
HONG KONG HAS NOSED AHEAD OF SINGAPORE TO BECOME, WORLD'S BUSIEST CONTAINER PORT.
AGAIN, THE
FIGURES JUST RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT SHOW THAT IN THE FIRST
JUST OVER OF THIS YEAR HONG KONG SEVEN
HANDLED
4.3 MONTHS
MEASURE OF MILLION TEUS (TWENTY-FOOT-EQUIVALENT UNITS, THE STANDARD PORT THROUGHPUT),
IN THE **BOXES" (TEUS)
THIS WAS A 27.2 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE THROUGHPUT FIRST
IT WAS SOME 78,000 SEVEN MONTHS OF LAST YEAR. MORE THAN SINGAPORE'S TOTAL FOR THE SAME PERIOD.
THE BECAME
WORLD'S
FIRST
IN 1991 HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE CONTAINER PORTS TO HANDLE MORE THAN STX MILLION TEUS IN A SINGLE YEAR. SINGAPORF JUST
BUSIEST EDGED OUT HONG KONG TO BECOME THE
PORT.
CONTAINER
JUDGING BY PRESENT TRENDS HONG KONG WILL THIS YEAR HANDLE
FOR NEARLY : 7.7 MILLION TEUS. PLACED END TO END THESE WOULD STRETCH
30,000 MILES, OR ONE-AND-A-QUARTER TIMES AROUND THE WORLD.
SOME
HONG KONG
YEAR ALREADY HANDLES MORE CONTAINERS A COUNTRY IN EUROPE, INCLUDING BRITAIN. ONLY THE USA AND JAPAN HAVE GREATER ANNUAL THROUGHPUT, BUT THAT IS VIA SEVERAL PORTS.
THAN ANY
A
2011,
NOW FROM JUST TO KEEP UP WITH THE INCREASE. EACH YEAR, HONG KONG WILL BUILD ADDITIONAL BERTHS WITH A THROUGHPUT TO THAT OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, OR FELIXSTOWE IN ENGLAND.
UNTIL EQUAL
ON
THIS MEANS BUILDING A COMPLETELY NEW PORT ON A GREEN-FIELD SITE NORTHEAST LANTAU ISLAND.
THE
TERRITORY WILL
MOVE MILLIONS
OF
TO DO THIS
TONNES OF EARTH, ROCK AND SEABED AND RECLAIN 1,200 HECTARES OF LAND FROM THE SEA. THAT KILL ADD ANOTHER 1.2 PER CENT TO THE PRESENT TOTAL LAND MASS OF THE TERRITORY,
RISK LOSING
THE
IT HAS TO COMPLETE THIS MASSIVE TASK ON TIME OR NEARLY US$4 BILLION WORTH OF TRANSHIPMENT TRAFFIC BETWEEN NOW AND YEAR 2006 ALONE.
IN
OVER
A
DECADE. HONG
KONG'S
PORT
THROUGHPI T
HAS
OF
THE
JUST INCREASED BY 300 PER CENT. THIS HAS STRETCHED THE CAPACITY CURRENT SEVEN TURMINALS AT KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER PORT.
TERMINAL
EIGHT
NUMBER
UNDER CONSTRUCTION 18 CURRENTLY STONECUTTERS ISLAND, WHERE RECLAMATION WORK HAS ALREADY CONNECTED THE MAINLAND.
AT
TO
LIKE ALL HONG KONG'S CONTAINER FACILITIES, BEING BUILT, AND WILL BE OPERATED, BY PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.
TERMINAL
EIGHT
IS
/THE FIRST