XN000022-1979-06-18 — Page 2

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 1979

9,436 SHIPS VISITED HK LAST YEAR

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A TOTAL OF 9,436 OCEAN-GOING VESSELS ARRIVED IN HONG KONG LAST YEAR, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF SIX PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S FIGURE.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT TODAY (MONDAY), THE TOTAL INCLUDED 2,549 PANAMANIAN, 1,012 JAPANESE AND 495 BRITISH REGISTERED VESSELS.

DURING THE SAME PERIOD CARGO HANDLED IN THE HARBOUR TOTALLED 25.7 MILLION TONNES, A JUMP OF EIGHT PER CENT OVER THE 1977 TOTAL.

CONTAINERISED CARGO REPRESENTED 43.6 PER CENT OR 8.5 MILLION TONNES OF THE TOTAL DISCHARGED AND LOADED LAST YEAR, COMPARED WITH 48.9 PER CENT IN 1977.

IN TERMS OF 20-FOOT EQUIVALENT UNITS (TEU'S), TOTAL CONTAINER THROUGHPUT WAS 1.23 MILLION, A DROP OF 0.5 PER CENT.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MARINE DEPARTMENT EXPLAINED THAT THIS WAS DUE TO SOME FALL-OFF IN TRANS-SHIPMENTS, DOWN BY ABOUT NINE PER CENT.

ON RIVER TRADE (MAINLY BETWEEN HONG KONG AND MACAU), 72,589 VESSELS ENTERED AND LEFT HONG KONG. THIS SHOWED A SLIGHT INCREASE COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S 71,433 VESSELS.

CARGO FROM THE RIVER TRADE LOADED AND DISCHARGED HERE AMOUNTED TO 2.1 MILLION TONNES COMPARED WITH 1.8 MILLION TONNES IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TRAVELLING TO AND FROM MACAU NUMBERED 5.4 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF SIX PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

IN ADDITION, 11,897 PASSENGERS TRAVELLED BY THE HONG KONG- CANTON HOVERFERRY SERVICE WHICH STARTED IN NOVEMBER 1978.

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