XN000022-1978-07-24 — Page 6

MONDAY, JULY 24, 1978

5.

AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT

LAUNCHES FISHING VESSEL ******

AN 86-FOOT-LONG 'LONG-LINER" THE LARGEST FISHING CRAFT OF ITS TYPE IN HONG KONG, WAS LAUNCHED TODAY (MONDAY) AT A SHIPYARD ON TSING YI BY THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT.

THE LONG-LINER IS THE LATEST FISHING VESSEL DESIGNED BY THE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT. IT IS DRIVEN BY A 400-HORSEPOWER DIESEL ENGINE AND HAS A CRUISING RANGE OF ABOUT 2,600 NAUTICAL MILES AT A SPEED OF 10 KNOTS.

THE VESSEL WAS BUILT AT A COST OF $850,000, MUCH OF IT FINANCED BY THE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT LOAN FUND WHICH IS ADMINISTERED BY THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT. THE BALANCE WAS MET BY THE OWNER MR. NG SHU-KUN OF SHAU KEJ WAN.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID: THE LONG-LINER' IS IDEAL FOR DISTANT-WATER FISHING AND IS BECOMING POPULAR WITH THE FISHING INDUSTRY.+

THE SPOKESMAN SAID A TOTAL OF 57 MODERNISED FISHING VESSELS, MOST OF THEM DESIGNED AND SUPERVISED BY THE DEPARTMENT, HAD BEEN BUILT SINCE THE SETTING UP OF THE FUND IN 1959 TO ASSIST FISHERMEN TO BUILD MODERN VESSELS CAPABLE OF FISHING IN HIGH SEAS.

THE FUND, ESTABLISHED WITH AN INITIAL CAPITAL OF $2 MILLION AND SUBSEQUENTLY INCREASED TO $5 MILLION, CAN ALSO BE USED FOR THE MECHANISATION OF EXISTING VESSELS, RÉPLACEMENT OF ENGINES SUITABLE FOR MIDDLE AND LONG DISTANCE WATER FISHING, AS WELL AS FOR OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.

+SINCE 1959, LOANS TOTALLING $12.5 MILLION HAVE BEEN ISSUED AND $9.6 MILLION HAVE BEEN REPAID UP TO THE END OF JUNE 1978.+ THE SPOKESMAN SAID..

t

16