ENG-2009 — Page 326

258 Transport

facility in the harbour for disposal, and the oily chemical waste is shipped to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre on Tsing Yi Island for treatment.

Combating Oil Pollution

The Marine Department maintains a maritime oil spill response plan to ensure a timely and effective response to oil spills in Hong Kong waters.

The department has a co-operation arrangement with the port administration of Guangdong, Macao and Shenzhen, under which they adopt the Regional Maritime Oil Spill from Ship Response Plan for the Pearl River Estuary as the action guide for regional co-operation on response to major maritime oil spills from ships.

In November 2009, the department's Pollution Control Unit organised a large- scale, oil spill clean-up drill to test the preparedness of the government departments concerned and local oil companies in handling major oil spills from ships.

Shipping

Hong Kong Shipping Register

The Hong Kong Shipping Register, administered by the Marine Department, is regarded highly as a world-class register providing excellent services. For seven consecutive years, the register has maintained its status as a quality flag under the US Coast Guard's QUALSHIP 21 Scheme.

The Hong Kong Shipping Register continued to attract quality ships in 2009. The total gross tonnage of ships registered in Hong Kong was close to 45 million, making the Hong Kong Shipping Register one of the top five shipping registers in the world.

To maintain high standards, the department conducts a Pre-registration Quality Control (PRQC) assessment of ships intending to join the register and implements a Flag State Quality Control (FSQC) System to ensure ships on the register comply with international standards. During the year, the department's surveyors carried out a total of 10 PRQC inspections and made 45 FSQC visits to ships and related companies.

As a result of these quality control measures, the Port State Control detention rate of Hong Kong-registered ships remained well below the world average, which enabled the Hong Kong flag to maintain its position among the top performance flags in the white list established by both the Paris and Tokyo Memorandums of Understanding of Port State Control.

Marine Accident Investigations

The Marine Department's Marine Accident Investigation and Shipping Security Policy Branch (MAISSPB) investigate all marine accidents involving vessels in Hong Kong waters. The department also investigates all serious accidents outside Hong Kong involving Hong Kong-registered ships. The purpose of the investigation is to identify the root causes of the accidents to prevent them from happening again.