ENG-1996 — Page 326

TRANSPORT

250

Maritime Search and Rescue

By international agreement, Hong Kong is responsible for co-ordinating all maritime search and rescue operations within Hong Kong waters and the area of the South China Sea north of latitude 10°N and west of longitude 120°E, excluding the immediate coastal waters of neighbouring states.

This is done by the Marine Department, whose Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre is manned 24 hours a day by professionally-trained staff. The centre is also the shore-based radio station of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. It calls upon fully-equipped vessels and aircraft operated by other government departments to carry out rescue operations. Assistance can also be obtained from nearby ships and other rescue co-ordination centres in the region.

During 1996 the centre responded to 291 incident calls and co-ordinated 98 search and rescue missions concerning ship emergencies 35 of which were medical evacuations.

Port State Control

Many marine casualties and pollution cases can be attributed to the use of substandard ships. This situation could be improved if each port state stepped up inspections of incoming vessels. But this would place a considerable strain on resources. Also, there would be a significant burden on ship operators if their vessels were subject to port state control at all the ports they visit. Accordingly, various Asia-Pacific countries have agreed to share the workload and the information on inspected vessels. They have concluded an Asia-Pacific Regional Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. Hong Kong supports this initiative and, in Beijing in April 1994, signed the memorandum accepting regional co-operation on port state control.

During 1996, 475 port state control inspections were conducted on the ocean-going ships visiting Hong Kong to check their compliance with international safety and environmental protection conventions. This represented about 8.8 per cent of the ships visiting Hong Kong. About 96 per cent had deficiencies which had to be made good before they could proceed.

Services in the Port

Container Handling

About 6.6 per cent (or 8.7 million TEUs) of the 13.2 million containers loaded and discharged in 1996 were handled at the Kwai Chung/Stonecutters Island Container Port. Ships at mid-stream mooring buoys and anchorages handled 23 per cent (or 3 million TEUs). This represented a growth rate of 4.8 per cent at the container terminals and 3.4 per cent at the mid-stream facilities, compared with 1995. The eight container terminals at Kwai Chung and on Stonecutters Island are privately owned and operated, with a total of 19 berths for ocean-going vessels.

International Ferry Services

The number of international passengers using the two ferry terminals managed by the Marine Department remained steady over the year, with 7.4 million passengers using the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, and 13.3 million using the Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan. Most of these passengers travelled on the world's largest