XN000022-1992-09-25 — Page 7

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1992

6

HONG KONG WORLD'S BUSIEST CONTAINER HANDLER

HONG KONG HAS NOSED AHEAD OF SINGAPORE TO BECOME, WORLD'S BUSIEST CONTAINER PORT.

AGAIN, THE

FIGURES JUST RELEASED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT SHOW THAT IN THE FIRST

JUST OVER OF THIS YEAR HONG KONG SEVEN

HANDLED

4.3 MONTHS

MEASURE OF MILLION TEUS (TWENTY-FOOT-EQUIVALENT UNITS, THE STANDARD PORT THROUGHPUT),

IN THE **BOXES" (TEUS)

THIS WAS A 27.2 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE THROUGHPUT FIRST

IT WAS SOME 78,000 SEVEN MONTHS OF LAST YEAR. MORE THAN SINGAPORE'S TOTAL FOR THE SAME PERIOD.

THE BECAME

WORLD'S

FIRST

IN 1991 HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE CONTAINER PORTS TO HANDLE MORE THAN STX MILLION TEUS IN A SINGLE YEAR. SINGAPORF JUST

BUSIEST EDGED OUT HONG KONG TO BECOME THE

PORT.

CONTAINER

JUDGING BY PRESENT TRENDS HONG KONG WILL THIS YEAR HANDLE

FOR NEARLY : 7.7 MILLION TEUS. PLACED END TO END THESE WOULD STRETCH

30,000 MILES, OR ONE-AND-A-QUARTER TIMES AROUND THE WORLD.

SOME

HONG KONG

YEAR ALREADY HANDLES MORE CONTAINERS A COUNTRY IN EUROPE, INCLUDING BRITAIN. ONLY THE USA AND JAPAN HAVE GREATER ANNUAL THROUGHPUT, BUT THAT IS VIA SEVERAL PORTS.

THAN ANY

A

2011,

NOW FROM JUST TO KEEP UP WITH THE INCREASE. EACH YEAR, HONG KONG WILL BUILD ADDITIONAL BERTHS WITH A THROUGHPUT TO THAT OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, OR FELIXSTOWE IN ENGLAND.

UNTIL EQUAL

ON

THIS MEANS BUILDING A COMPLETELY NEW PORT ON A GREEN-FIELD SITE NORTHEAST LANTAU ISLAND.

THE

TERRITORY WILL

MOVE MILLIONS

OF

TO DO THIS

TONNES OF EARTH, ROCK AND SEABED AND RECLAIN 1,200 HECTARES OF LAND FROM THE SEA. THAT KILL ADD ANOTHER 1.2 PER CENT TO THE PRESENT TOTAL LAND MASS OF THE TERRITORY,

RISK LOSING

THE

IT HAS TO COMPLETE THIS MASSIVE TASK ON TIME OR NEARLY US$4 BILLION WORTH OF TRANSHIPMENT TRAFFIC BETWEEN NOW AND YEAR 2006 ALONE.

IN

OVER

A

DECADE. HONG

KONG'S

PORT

THROUGHPI T

HAS

OF

THE

JUST INCREASED BY 300 PER CENT. THIS HAS STRETCHED THE CAPACITY CURRENT SEVEN TURMINALS AT KWAI CHUNG CONTAINER PORT.

TERMINAL

EIGHT

NUMBER

UNDER CONSTRUCTION 18 CURRENTLY STONECUTTERS ISLAND, WHERE RECLAMATION WORK HAS ALREADY CONNECTED THE MAINLAND.

AT

TO

LIKE ALL HONG KONG'S CONTAINER FACILITIES, BEING BUILT, AND WILL BE OPERATED, BY PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

TERMINAL

EIGHT

IS

/THE FIRST