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40. The large godown companies act as public warehouse-keepers and accommodate at their piers any vessels that elect to go there. In the case of Messrs. Alfred Holt & Company, their piers and godowns are primarily for the use of their own vessels and those of their associated companies. There are also several other piers and godowns which have been provided by the lessees for their own vessels and the goods therefrom.
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41. MOORING BUOYS.-There are 48 mooring buoys in the Harbour-17 for Class A ships of from 450 to 600 feet in length, 27 for Class "B" ships of from 300 to 450 feet in length and 4 for Class "O" ships of less than 300 feet in length. These buoys are owned by the Government who charge for their use $16, $12 and $8 per day respectively. Certain firms own buoys for their own use and these, 58 in number, are held, by permission, at a charge of $5 per month. Apart from these, there are 30 buoys belonging to the Admiralty and 5 owned by the Royal Air Force.
42. LIGHTS AND BUOYS.-For the guidance of vessels making for and leaving the Port, the Government maintains lighthouses at Waglan and Gap Rock, 15 minor harbour lights, of which two have skeleton staffs, and three lighted navigational buoys. There are also two signal stations, one at Green Island, and the other at Blackhead. The light dues imposed by the Government are two and four-tenth cents per ton on all ocean-going vessels and nine-tenths of a cent per ton on all river steamers which enter the waters of the Colony.
43. PETROLEUM OIL AND SPIRIT ACCOMMODATION.-Apart from an Admiralty oil depôt in Canton Road, Kowloon, there are three oil concerns owning installations, two of which those of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, (South China) Limited, and the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company-have sites within the Harbour limits. The third, belonging to the Texas Company (China) Limited, is located at Tsun Wan in New Territories. The two first-named have piers on the usual form of lease expiring in 1949.
44. Each of these Companies in addition to the piers owns pipe lines, tanks and godowns and they have altogether storage for about 53,500 tons of paraffin oil, 39,900 tons of fuel oil, 25,000 tons of diesel oil and 90,000 tons of miscellaneous oil. This represents a total storage capacity of over 208,000 tons of all kinds of oil.
45. DRY DOCKS AND SHIPBUILDING.—The shipbuilding and ship-repairing industry is the largest of what may be termed the manufacturing industries in the Colony. There are three excellent main shipbuilding and ship-repairing establish- ments in the Port,-those of
The Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company, Limited;
Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Company, Limited; and Messrs. W. S. Bailey & Company, Limited.
46. Between them they have seven dry docks varying up to 787 feet in length together with ample slipways, piers, quays, cranes and equipment necessary for the building of vessels of upwards of 10,000 tons and for the carrying out of repairs to all vessels using the Port.
47. In addition, there are four native-owned and managed shipyards in Kowloon capable of repairing vessels of up to about 1,100 tons displacement, and one in Hong Kong capable of taking vessels up to 60 tons displacement.
48. PILOTAGE.-Pilotage is not compulsory at the Port of Hong Kong but there are pilots who are licensed by the Harbour Master. In practice, foreign- going vessels employ a pilot, but locally-registered vessels which are in and out of the Port many times in the year, do not.
49. The pilots use their own craft, usually sampans, for boarding ships but they may use a launch belonging to the particular steamship company whose vessel they are to meet.
50. RAIL COMMUNICATION.-The Port is connected by railway on the Kow- loon side where the Kowloon-Canton Railway, (British section), has its terminal. This section is Government-owned and runs from Kowloon for a distance of 22 miles to Lown on the border of the New Territories. In 1911 a connexion was made at Lown with the Chinese Government line running to Canton, (Canton- Kowloon Railway Chinese section), thus effecting a through connexion to the latter place. In 1937 a connexion was made close to Canton with the Canton-Hankow Railway, so giving a through connexion to Hankow.
51. In 1938 about 500,000 tons of goods, mostly for military use, were sent by rail to various points on the line to Hankow. Since then, however, during the course of the hostilities between China and Japan the Chinese lines of railway have been much damaged at places, and the Kowloon-Canton Railway is now only operating to Lowu.
52. From evidence given to me, it would appear that if and when matters settle down in China, there will undoubtedly be a demand for the conveyance of more and more goods by rail. If this should prove to be the case the railway undertaking would, it is stated, require more facilities than they now have in the way of pier and godown accommodation. When Messrs, Coode, Fitzmaurice, Wilson & Mitchell reported in 1922 on the development of the Port, they provided for the construction of new piers with railway connexions.
53. Although it is not expected that the necessity for more facilities for the railway will arise for some years, I think it well to mention it now, as it is a factor that will have to be borne in mind in planning for the future development of the Port. It is expected that the railway, connected again as it should be with the Chinese railways, will be able to tap sources of trade, yet untouched, in rich territories in China and so tend to the expansion of the trade of the Port of Hong Kong. In the meantime the railway undertaking has ample Port facilities for the conduct of its business.
54. ROADS. There are some 371 miles of good roads in the Colony, 173 being on the island of Hong Kong, 106 in Kowloon and 92 in the New Territories. From a Port point of view there does not seem to be much to complain of as regards road facilities for the conveyance of such goods as have to go over road, to and from the water front, except that there is congestion, owing to its narrowness, of the public road which runs along the waterside in Victoria from the Naval Yard to Wing Lok Street. This matter is dealt with later in this Report. With regard to goods traffic with China, carried by road, it will no doubt be necessary, in future, to widen and improve the present road to the frontier, to cope with any increase of such traffic that may take place when normal conditions are restored.
55. FERRIES.-Owing to the geographical position of Hong Kong the need for a ferry service to convey passengers and vehicles between the Island and the mainland at Kowloon naturally arose, and such a service was established many years
ago.
At the present time there are a number of ferry services, the most important being-
(a) The Star Ferry for passengers between Kowloon Point and a site near the
General Post Office in Hong Kong.
(b) The Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry for passengers between Hong Kong and Jordan Road, Shan Tung Street, Pei Ho Street, Gillies Avenue and Kai Tak Road, all in Kowloon; also to Sai Wan Ho near the eastern end of the Harbour; and for vehicles between Hong Kong (Jubilee Street) and Kowloon (Jordan Road).
(c) The New Territories Ferries run by the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry Company, from a position near Wilmer Street, Hong Kong, to Cheung Chau Island, Tsun Wan on the mainland, Ma Wan Island, Castle Peak Bay on the mainland, Ping Chau Island and Silver Mine Bay, Tung Chung and Tai O which are situated on the Island of Lantau, and also to Aberdeen a small port on the southern side of the island of Hong Kong, all of which are outside the Harbour limits.
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