 | Hong Kong is the busiest and most efficient international container port in the world which handled about 23.5 million TEUs of containers in 2006. The port is served by some 80 international shipping lines providing some 500 container liner services per week connecting to over 500 destinations worldwide. The locations of the major cargo handling facilities, including container terminals, river trade terminal, mid-stream sites, public cargo working areas as well as supporting facilities, such as ship repair yards and typhoon shelters, are shown in the following plan: In 2006, the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi container terminals’ throughput amounted to 16.0 million TEUs, representing 68% of the port’s total container throughput. The remaining 32% was handled at mid-stream sites, River Trade Terminal, PCWAs, buoys and anchorages, and other wharves. | Container Terminals | | | Container terminals (CTs) are situated in Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi basin. There are nine terminals under the operation of five different operators, namely Modern Terminals Ltd (MTL), Hongkong International Terminals Ltd (HIT), COSCO-HIT, DP World and Asia Container Terminals Ltd (ACT). They occupy 285 hectares of land, providing 24 berths and 8,530 metres deep water frontage. The water depth of the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi basin is 15.5 metres. The total handling capacity of the container terminals is over 18 million TEUs per year. | Mid-stream Sites | | | The operation of mid-stream sites in Hong Kong mainly involves the loading and unloading of ocean and river cargoes from barges to trucks/lorries and vice versa. Currently, these sites are situated at 11 different locations occupying a total land area of 27.5 hectares and waterfrontage of 3,197 metres. They are either under long-term or short-term tenancies. | River Trade Terminal | | | The operation of the River Trade Terminal in Hong Kong involves the consolidation of containers, break bulk and bulk cargo shipped between the Hong Kong port and ports in the Pearl River Delta. The terminal is located near Pillar Point in Tuen Mun and is being operated by the River Trade Terminal Company Ltd. The terminal was fully completed in November 1999, operating with some 65 hectares of land and 3,000 metres of quay. | Buoys and Anchorages | | | In Hong Kong, there are two types of Government Mooring Buoys (GMB) serving ocean-going vessels calling on the Hong Kong port:- | Class A GMBs | - | for vessels up to 183m in length with drafts between 6.2m and 10.8m; and | | | | Class B GMBs | - | for vessels up to 137m in length with drafts between 4.8m and 9.7m. |
GMBs allow ocean going vessels to moor in the stream while transferring their cargo to and from barges secured to the ships’ sides. GMBs also function as typhoon moorings for vessels during extreme weather conditions and other non-cargo handling shipping activities such as embarkation of cruise passengers. In Hong Kong, cargo handling can take place at the anchorages. There are 16 such anchorages with 3,606 hectares, of which over 40 per cent are deepwater cargo-handling anchorages. In 2006, a total of 3.1 million TEUs of containers and 17.0 million tonnes of non-containerised cargo were handled at the buoys and anchorages. | | Public Cargo Working Areas | | | The operation of Public Cargo Working Areas (PCWAs) involves the short-term allocation of berths and waterfront working areas for the purpose of handling general cargo, bulk and containerised cargo transferred from lorries to barges and vice versa. PCWAs are currently situated at eight different locations, comprising a combined total quay length of some 7,020 metres. They are managed by the Marine Department of HKSARG. |
| | Port Back-up Facilities | | | Port back-up (PBU) activities are an integral part of the overall port operation in Hong Kong. PBU uses are those port-related activities which are essential to the operation of port activities but do not need to be located within the confines of the port. These uses include container depots, container yards, container vehicle parks and container vehicle repair workshops. Currently, there are about 380 hectares of land being used for PBU purposes and these PBU facilities are mainly located in the New Territories (e.g. Yuen Long, Lok Ma Chau). | Typhoon Shelters | | | Within Hong Kong, there are 14 typhoon shelters providing a total of 423 hectares of sheltered space for the protection of local vessels and river trade vessels during typhoons and inclement weather conditions. The use of typhoon shelters by vessels is subject to maximum length restrictions of 30 metres or 50 metres. | | Ship Repair Yards | | | The port industry in Hong Kong is supported by two types of ship repair facility : small repair yards serving the local shipping fleet, and floating docks and ship repair yards which serve much larger ocean-going vessels. While local ship repair yards are spread across 11 different districts within Hong Kong, the three floating docks are located off the coast of north Lantau Island and west Tsing Yi Island. |
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