ENG-1965 — Page 228

COMMUNICATIONS

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Frequent and fast services are maintained to Macau by ferries and hydrofoils.

The Marine Department maintains 63 moorings for ocean-going vessels. Of these, 39 are classified as suitable for use by vessels up to 600 feet in length and 24 for vessels up to 450 feet in length. Under typhoon conditions 32 buoys are available for vessels up to 600 feet and seven for vessels up to 370 feet. Port improvement schemes continue to be implemented and an expansion scheme for the western harbour continued throughout the year. At the same time additional navigation aids were brought into operation. The year saw the near-completion of a central harbour scheme involving a new fairway, additional navigation aids, dredging, and the re-siting of government and naval moorings between Victoria Basin and North Point. Commercial wharves can accommodate vessels up to 750 feet with a draught up to 32 feet. Construction of a new ocean terminal continued throughout the year and in the meantime a temporary passenger terminal continued to function satisfactorily. Wharf and godown companies are estimated to have total storage of well over one million tons and can cater for the storage and transhipment of all types of refrigerated, dangerous and ordinary goods. During the year a modern multi-storey godown equipped for mechanical handling was completed at North Point and han- dling facilities were further improved by the addition of a new crane and other mechanical equipment on the Kowloon wharves.

Most cargo handled in Hong Kong is at some stage transported by lighter. Over 2,400 lighters and junks exist for this purpose, more than 800 of them being mechanically propelled. Mechanical lighters are particularly suitable for handling and transporting cargo, and the number of these craft is constantly increasing. Bunkering services are provided at four major oil wharves or by lighter. Fresh water supplies to shipping are readily available either at wharves or at buoys from water barges.

Officers of the Mercantile Marine Office supervise the engagement and discharge of seamen serving in British ships and also the crews of those ships whose countries have no consular representation in Hong Kong. Some 30,000 Hong Kong seamen are regularly employed in a sea-going capacity in ships under many different national flags. A planning unit for a new seamen's recruiting office was formed