The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, today (April 12) visited the Marine Department to better understand their work in vessel traffic control, maritime rescue and co-ordination, as well as ship registry and safety inspections.

     Accompanied by the Acting Director of Marine, Mr WK Lee, the Chief Executive visited the Vessel Traffic Centre on top of Macau Ferry Terminal in Central. The centre, aided by a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) system, regulates and monitors the movements of vessels within the Hong Kong waters through a computer-aided radar network and direct radio communications between vessels and Vessel Traffic Controllers.

     The VTS system has been upgraded to cater for the continual growth and future demands in marine traffic in the next 15 years.

     Mr Tsang expressed concern over navigational safety during the prevailing foggy weather. He was told that when visibility fell below two nautical miles in Hong Kong waters, the department would closely liaise with the Hong Kong Observatory and remind ship masters to exercise extreme caution and to comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea.

     The Chief Executive then proceeded to the Maritime Rescue and Co-ordination Centre (MRCC), which co-ordinates all available resources, including the Government Flying Service, Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department, as well as the Mainland and other governments, to perform search and rescue operations for maritime distress situations in Hong Kong waters and the major part of the South China Sea covering a sea area of about 450,000 square nautical miles.

     In 2006, the MRCC handled 214 cases of vessel emergencies, 53 of which developed into search and rescue operations. A total of 238 people were rescued.

     Mr Tsang commended the MRCC for its prompt response to alerts of distress situations of  vessels. "We are very proud of our elite marine search and rescue team which always displays a high degree of expertise, efficiency, courage and devotion to duty in executing plans to rescue people facing difficulties at sea," he said.

     The Chief Executive then boarded the Government launch Tin Hau to proceed to the Government Dockyard on Stonecutters Island. He met directorate officers on board and was briefed on the operation of the department, in particular the Hong Kong Shipping Registry and ship safety inspections.

     From 1995 to 1997, many shipowners switched their ships' flag from Hong Kong to other flags and the tonnage on the ship register reached a record low of about 5.4 million gross tonnage. Through the efforts of the Hong Kong Shipping Register, a series of new measures were implemented. Since then, the size of the Hong Kong fleet has increased by five times and has just crossed the 33.4 million gross tonnage mark on the Shipping Register, with a record high of 1,177 ships being registered in Hong Kong.

     "I am pleased to learn that Hong Kong is now ranked one of the top five on the world merchant fleet. I am confident that the Marine Department will keep up its good work and will continue to endeavour to strengthen Hong Kong's status as an international shipping centre."  

     Before ending his visit, the Chief Executive toured the workshops at the Government Dockyard and chatted with the technical staff to learn more about the maintenance of government vessels.

Ends/Thursday, April 12, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:37

NNNN

News Archives | Yesterday's News