XN000022-1977-02-10 — Page 5

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1977

HK MAY RANK WORLD'S THIRD IN CONTAINER TRAFFIC

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FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF CONTAINERISATION INTO HONG KONG, THE ANNUAL THROUGHPUT AT KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER TERMINAL EXCEEDED ONE MILLION T.E.U.'S (TWENTY-FOOT EQUIVALENT UNITS) LAST YEAR.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT SOME 1.03 MILLION T.E.U.'S WERE HANDLED IN 1976, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 25 PER CENT OVER THE 1975-76 FINANCIAL YEAR TOTAL OF 802,283.

+THIS MEANS THAT HONG KONG IS NOW VYING FOR THIRD PLACE IN THE LEAGUE OF WORLD PORTS HANDLING CONTAINER TRAFFIC,+ A MARINE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAID.

IN 1975, NEW YORK LED WITH 1.6 MILLION T.E.U.'S FOLLOWED BY ROTTERDAM (1.1 MILLION T.E.U. 'S), AND KOBE (0.9 MILLION T.E.U. 'S).

IN TERMS OF CONTAINERISED DEADWEIGHT TONNAGE, LAST YEAR'S TOTAL OF SEVEN MILLION TONS SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 1.7 MILLION TONS OR 32.1 PER CENT OVER THAT OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR. THE VOLUME OF NON-CONTAINERISED CARGO HANDLED LAST YEAR ALSO ROSE BY SOME 27 PER CENT.

OF ALL CARGOES IMPORTED AND EXPORTED, SOME 33 PER CENT INCLUDING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS), OR MORE THAN 44.5 PER CENT (EXCLUDING PETROLEUM PRODUCTS) WAS CONTAINER ISED.

DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW, SOME 8,100 SHIPS ENTERED HONG KONG AS COMPARED WITH 7,400 IN THE 1975-76 FINANCIAL YEAR. THE TOTAL NET TONNAGE OF THESE SHIPS INCREASED BY ABOUT 12 PER CENT FROM 33 MILLION TONS TO ABOUT 37 MILLION TONS.

THE VOLUME OF CARGO LOADED AND DISCHARGED IN HONG KONG HARBOUR LAST YEAR TOTALLED JUST OVER 21 MILL FON DEADWEIGHT TONS, AN INCREASE OF 28.5 PER CENT OVER THE 1975-76 FINANCIAL YEAR FIGURE OF 16.5 MILLION TONS,

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