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At a separate ceremony on board the M/V Maas, the Assistant Director of Marine (Planning and Local Services), Mr S Y Tsui, welcomed the ship and her master, Mr Katsuzo Yamano.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Dale said having two of the world's largest container ships arriving at the Hong Kong port on the same day and leaving on the same day might well be a record.
The M/V NYK Altair, with a capacity of 4,730 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), arrived at Modern Terminals Limited new container terminal 8 in Kwai Chung ⚫around 8 pm yesterday.
The M/V Maas, capable of carrying 4,743 TEUS docked at berth 2 of Modern Terminals in Kwai Chung, around 5 pm yesterday.
The M/V NYK Altair, owned by NYK and with a gross tonnage at 60,117, will call at Taiwan and Japan before starting her journey to Europe.
Operated by Mitsui OSK Lines, the 60,133-gross registered ton M/V Maas left at 1 pm for Singapore before going on to Europe.
Mr Dale noted that in the third quarter of 1994, 9,584 ocean-going vessels with a total capacity of 42.1 million net registered tons arrived at Hong Kong, representing an increase of 13 per cent in number of vessels and seven per cent in capacity over the same quarter of 1993.
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"The increases reflect the port's efficiency and underline its hub port status,' Mr Dale said, adding that these were two of the elements that made Hong Kong the busiest port in the world.
End/Wednesday, February 15, 1995