XN000022-1988-04-14 — Page 3

THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1988

2

GREAT WHICH

"WHETHER IT WILL TURN OUT TO BE PRACTICAL OR NOT NEEDS A DEAL OF FURTHER INVESTIGATION, BUT IT'S A VERY INTERESTING IDEA HAS BEEN PUT FORWARD WITH A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM BY THOSE CONCERNED AND WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT IN DETAIL,' SIR DAVID SAID.

..

PEOPLE

HE ALSO SAID IT WAS A VERY POSITIVE WAY TO LOOK TO TRY TO THINK OF THINGS WHICH WOULD ENCOURAGE HONG KONG AND SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AT THAT TIME.

AT 1997,

AND

TO COME TO

GOVERNOR VISITS KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER PORT * * * * *

THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID WILSON, TODAY (THURSDAY) KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER PORT AND MET THE OPERATORS THERE.

VISITED THE

ACCOMPANIED BY THE DIRECTOR OF MARINE, MR DERICK HALL,

SIR DAVID TOURED THE MODERN TERMINALS LTD, THE LTD, THE SEA-LAND ORIENT LTD AND THE HONG TERMINALS LTD.

KONG

ASIA TERMINALS INTERNATIONAL

THE GOVERNOR LEARNT ABOUT THE VARIED ASPECTS OF TERMINAL OPERATIONS AND THE IMPORTANT ROLE THESE FACILITIES PLAY IN THE GENERAL ECONOMY OF HONG KONG.

LAST YEAR, THE TERMINALS IN KWAI CHUNG HANDLED A TOTAL OF 2.61 MILLION TEU'S OUT OF THE TOTAL OF 3.46 MILLION TEU'S FOR HONG KONG.

OF

IN ADDITION TO LOCAL IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, ABOUT 30 PER CENT THE CARGO HANDLED WAS TRANSHIPMENT CARGO. OF THIS SOME 50 PER CENT WAS CHINA ORIENTATED WITH THE BALANCE TO/FROM THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN REGION.

NEW TECHNOLOGICAL CONTAINER HANDLING EQUIPMENT HAD BEEN INSTALLED BY THE OPERATORS SO THAT HONG KONG HANDLED ALMOST TWICE AS MANY TEU'S PER HECTARE AS ITS NEAREST RIVAL AND WAS ABLE TO DESPATCH VESSELS IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE PORT TIME OF 12 TO 14 HOURS.

WITH HONG KONG SURPASSING ROTTERDAM LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF CONTAINER THROUGHPUT, SIR DAVID SAID IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS AT THE PORT KEEP PACE WITH THE EVER INCREASING DEMAND.

IN ADDITION ΤΟ THE RECLAMATION OF THE KWAI CHUNG CREEK, COMPLETED IN MID-1987, WHICH INCREASED CAPACITY BY ABOUT HALF A MILLION TEU'S, SIR DAVID WAS TOLD THAT THE MODERN TERMINALS LTD RECLAIMING AN AREA OF SOME 4.9 HECTARES ADJACENT ΤΟ TERMINAL 5 FURTHER BOOST THEIR CAPACITY BY SOME 10 TO 12 PER CENT.

IS

ΤΟ

/AT THE