XN000022-1996-04-18 — Page 27

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The Bill also enables the transfer of responsibility for the examination of gasholders from the Labour Department to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.

The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on May 1, 1996.

End

Marine safety campaign in busy fairway

The Marine Department and the Marine Police will jointly mount a safety campaign in the Northern Fairway, one of the busiest waterways in Hong Kong, to remind vessel operators of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREG).

Briefing the media on the operations, the Marine Officer of the North Marine District, Mr Eric Lau, said today (Thursday) that the Northern Fairway, which runs from the western part of Victoria Harbour to the container port in Kwai Chung, is a popular thoroughfare for barges, container vessels, high-speed ferries.

The two government departments will deploy additional launches to issue warnings to those who defy the rules of the road during the first phase of the campaign which will begin next Monday (April 22).

This fresh round of marine safety campaign follows a similar operation conducted in January this year at the central part of Victoria Harbour.

Last year there were 41 marine casualties involving local craft and river-trade vessels in the Tsing Yi area of the Northern Fairway.

"Any accident occurred in the busy fairway will seriously affect the smooth operation of our port," Mr Lau said.

"For the sake of their own safety and also that of other port users, every operator should follow strictly COLREG, particularly in the Northern Fairway where traffic is heavy," he said.

Mr Lau said that two departments will deploy much of their attention to tackle speeding offences in the coming exercise.