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Transport

Collection of Marine Refuse and Waste

The Marine Department's contractors collect domestic refuse from both ocean-going vessels and local vessels. Sewage and oily chemical waste are collected from ships by registered collectors. The collected sewage is taken to the sewage treatment 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 guide for regional co-operation used by the department and the port administrations of Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao in response to major maritime oil spills is the Regional Maritime Oil Spill from Ship Response Plan for the Pearl River Estuary.

In October 2013, the department's Pollution Control Unit organised a large-scale, oil spill clean- up drill with participants from government departments and local oil companies to test the preparedness of the government and the private sector in handling major oil spills from ships.

Cleansing of Maritime Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Spillage

Maritime HNS spillage cleansing is carried out by a private contractor under an outsourcing arrangement with the Marine Department. The contractor is also required to clean up marine oil spills in Hong Kong waters.

In October 2013, a joint departmental HNS spill response exercise was co-organised by the Marine Department and the Environmental Protection Department to test the government's Maritime HNS Spill Response Plan.

Shipping

Hong Kong Shipping Register

In 2013, the total gross tonnage of ships registered on the Hong Kong Shipping Register (HKSR), administered by the Marine Department, rose to over 86.43 million. In 2013, the HKSR ranked within the world's top five shipping registers. To maintain high standards, the Marine 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. In 2013, the department's surveyors carried out 11 PRQC inspections and made 91 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 the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of Port State Control; and for its ships to be classified as low risk under the Paris MOU. In addition, Hong Kong also holds the United States Coast Guard's 'Qualship 21'status.

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