ENG-2011 — Page 314

270 Transport

The Port

In 2011, Hong Kong handled a total of 24.38 million 20-foot Equivalent Units. of containers (TEUs), maintaining its status as the largest container port serving southern China and one of the busiest ports in the world.

Some 410 560 vessels arrived in and departed from Hong Kong during the year, carrying 277 million tonnes of cargo and about 28 million passengers. Most of these passengers commuted on a highly efficient fleet of high-speed ferries, including jetfoils and catamarans, to and from Macao and ports on the Mainland, making Hong Kong a port with one of the world's largest number of high-speed craft.

Hong Kong is a modern, well equipped deep-water port serving two main types. of maritime transport large ocean-going vessels from all parts of the world and smaller, coastal and river-trade vessels from the Pearl River. Hong Kong is the focal point of all maritime trading activities in the region.

A daily average of around 90 ocean-going vessels work in the port; nearly 470 river-trade vessels enter or leave the port; and many high-speed ferries and local craft work in, or pass through, the harbour. Hong Kong's ship turnaround performance is among the best in the world: the average turnaround time for container vessels at the container terminals is estimated to be about 10 hours.

Port Development.

Container handling facilities are a key part of the infrastructure of the logistics. sector, which together with trading forms one of the four pillar industries of Hong Kong. The nine container terminals at the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi area, which handle around 70 per cent of Hong Kong Port throughput, have 24 berths with a total handling capacity of over 19 million TEUS per year.

Competition between the container terminals and alternative modes of container handling motivates the operators to improve their efficiency and quality of service. The investment in upgrading equipment and systems in the terminals at Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi over the past few years has enabled the port to enhance its productivity, as well as to handle the world's largest container ships.

The container port is vital, not only to Hong Kong, but also to southern China, an area with robust external trade growth. Almost 70 per cent of freight throughput handled by Hong Kong is related to southern China.

Strategic Planning

The Government is currently studying the technical feasibility for developing a new container terminal in the southwestern part of Tsing Yi Island. It has also commissioned a 'Study on the Strategic Development Plan for Hong Kong Port 2030' to update port cargo forecasts, to find ways of using existing port facilities. more efficiently and to plan for the future development of the Hong Kong Port.

To strengthen Hong Kong's position as a regional hub port in Asia-Pacific, the Government is pressing ahead with dredging the Kwai Tsing Container Port Basin