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"The authority for the Hong Kong Register is included in both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law," Mr Dale said, adding that it was the only register that was formally recognised at the United Nations, where the Sino-British Declaration was deposited.
Briefing Intertanko members on Articles 124 to 127 of the Basic Law, which related to shipping, Mr Dale said that it was cleared that Hong Kong would continue to exercise the same maritime laws and policies after 1997 as it did now.
He assured his audience who together control and operate more than 90 per cent of tankers around the world that "nothing will change after 1997".
Mr Dale said that the Hong Kong Shipping Register was not a cheap register but neither was it the most expensive.
It was a quality register, he stressed, noting that Hong Kong was not classed as a flag of convenience by the International Transport Workers Federation.
Much of the inspection on the ships on the register is undertaken by surveyors from the Marine Department or surveyors from one of the seven main classification societies which are contracted by the Marine Department to undertake the work on its behalf.
Turning to the latest picture of the port of Hong Kong, Mr Dale said that Hong Kong handled 167 million tons of cargo and 12.6 million twenty-foot-equivalent containers in 1995.
More than 41,000 ocean-going vessels plus 108,000 coastal cargo vessels, and 64,000 international passenger craft passed through Hong Kong last year, he said.
Superimposed on this huge level of marine activity were the 16,000 locally licensed vessels which were continually operating all day and everyday within Hong Kong waters, he added.
"The level of marine traffic is enormous by any standards. Averaged out over the full year, it means one vessel on an international voyage enters or leaves Hong Kong every 1.2 minutes," he pointed out.
These numbers are increasing at about 10 per cent a year, posing the biggest problem on the marine traffic management to the Marine Department.
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