XN000022-1976-11-28 — Page 1

PRH 7

|香港政府 GIS新聞處

DAILY INFORMATION BULLETIN

BETTER NAVIGATIONAL AIDS FOR SHIPPING

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NAVIGATIONAL AIDS IN THE EASTERN APPROACHES TO THE HARBOUR WILL BE AUGMENTED TO ENABLE SHIPS USING THIS PASSAGEWAY TO MANOEUVRE WITH EVEN GREATER SAFETY,

LAST YEAR, SOME 7,000 INWARD BOUND AND ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF OUTWARD BOUND VESSELS USED THIS ROUTE AND WERE REPORTED BY WAGLAN SIGNAL STATION WHICH IS NEAR THE SOUTH-EASTERN EXTREMITY OF HONG KONG WATERS.

TO MANAGE THE BUSY SEA TRAFFIC, WAGLAN ISLAND ALREADY HAS THE MOST POWERFUL NAVIGATIONAL AID IN HONG KONG A LIGHT WITH A RANGE OF 26 MILES, AND A DIAPHONE FOG SIGNAL TO WARN SHIPS DURING THE EARLY MONTHS OF EACH YEAR WHEN VISIBILITY IS OBSCURED BY FOG.

A SUITABLE SITE FOR ANOTHER LIGHTHOUSE ON ONE OF THE NINEPIN GROUP OF ISLANDS HAS ALREADY BEEN FOUND AND IT IS HOPED TO HAVE THE LIGHT COMMISSIONED NEXT YEAR.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MARINE DEPARTMENT'S NAVIGATIONAL AIDS SECTION SAID IT WOULD BE FED BY ACETYLENE GAS AND WOULD BE VISIBLE WITHIN A RANGE OF TEN MILES.

ANOTHER IMPROVEMENT TO NAVIGATIONAL SAFETY IN THE EASTERN APPROACHES WILL BE THE INSTALLATION OF A RANGE OF LIGHTED TRAFFIC SEPARATION BUOYS IN TATHONG CHANNEL TO BE ARRANGED BETWEEN WAGLAN LIGHTHOUSE AND THE LIGHTHOUSE AT TATHONG POINT.

THESE BUOYS, WHICH WILL BE VISIBLE AT NIGHTS AS WELL AS DURING THE DAY, WILL MARK OUT THE LANES FOR INWARD AND OUTWARD GOING VESSELS AND WILL MINIMISE THE RISK OF COLLISION, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

HE ADDED THAT THEIR INSTALLATION WOULD BEGIN ONCE THE EQUIPMENT ARRIVED IN HONG KONG.

ALSO FOR THE BENEFIT OF SHIPS USING THE EASTERN APPROACHES, THE EXISTING LIGHTHOUSE AT CAPE D'AGUILAR WAS REBUILT LAST YEAR AND ITS BEAM CAN NOW BE SEEN SOME 20 MILES AWAY BY APPROACHING VESSELS.

Issued by Government Information Services, Beaconsfield House, Hong Kong. Tel: 5-233191

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