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Owners of vessels and personnel on board should exercise great caution in the vicinity of all the existing and future marine works in the waters of Hong Kong and the Pearl River estuary, the Director of Marine, Mr Roger Tupper, said this afternoon (February 3).
Addressing the opening of the Navigational Safety Seminar organised by the Marine Department at the Hong Kong Space Museum, Mr Tupper highlighted two major marine works which should be of special note in the upcoming years.
"The reclamation of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link will commence work early this year and continue for some six years. Construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, including reclamation to the east of the airport for the Boundary Crossing Facilities has started and will continue for some five years," Mr Tupper said.
During these periods, owners of vessels and personnel aboard are required to be aware of all the stages of marine works and to navigate with extreme caution and safe speed in the vicinity of Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter and in the western waters of Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta.
The Marine Department will publish Marine Department Notices to promulgate the various stages of these works with navigational safety advice. In addition the department will continue to enhance co-operation with the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration to convey safety information to local shipping in the Pearl River Delta area.
Meanwhile, the fog season will come soon. Mr Tupper also took the opportunity to remind owners of vessels and personnel on board to take adequate safety precautions and have in place contingency measures for every intended voyage in order to ensure the safety of life at sea.
"In these days of climate change, we should not be surprised when mist or fog appears out of the normal season such as occurred last Christmas Day resulting in three collisions involving high-speed ferries and slower craft. These cases emphasised the need to make significant speed reductions when visibility falls below a thousand metres and to double up the lookout even when proceeding at slow speed," Mr Tupper noted.
Investigations into the causes of the accidents reveal that most of them can be attributed to inadequate safety preparations and contingency measures. It is therefore very important before setting sail to verify the seaworthiness of vessels, engines and equipment, have properly trained and qualified crew, and have good working communications with port control and emergency services. Prior to and during voyages, it is also very important to be fully aware of the latest weather reports especially fog and strong wind warnings.
The Marine Department will put together a series of education seminars and publicity campaigns starting today to highlight proper safety precautions so that marine accidents can be reduced to the minimum.
About 160 representatives from the shipping and fishing industries, as well as masters and operators of local vessels and river-trade vessels, attended today's seminar. They discussed the points to note for vessels when navigating in restricted visibility, the importance of good maintenance of engines and machinery to the navigational safety of vessels and protection of environment, and an analysis of marine accidents and their implications. Representatives from the Marine Police, Fire Services Department and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department joined the discussions.
Ends/Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:02
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