HK Obtains Record Gross Shipping Register TonnageHong Kong has obtained a record gross shipping register tonnage of 9.107 million by May this year, a senior marine official said Saturday."This puts us within reach of the 10 million gross registered tonnage target set by the Financial Secretary in his 1999-2000 budget speech," Marine Department Director Tsui Shung-yiu said in an article carried by the latest issue of Hong Kong Maritime News journal. Tsui said that Hong Kong has always had the enviable reputation of being one of the best shipping centers in the world, a position that the department has worked hard to maintain ever since the Hong Kong Shipping Register was formed more than 150 years ago. "More ships joining our shipping register will benefit not only our shipping industry but also the local economy since this will mean more business opportunities for local companies in insurance, banking, legal and other types of support services that are instrumental to this industry," the director said. The Asian economic crisis meant that many investors were being careful with their budgets, but investor confidence had returned to Hong Kong as people realized that the one country two systems policy was running smoothly and efficiently, Tsui said. "We lowered the first time registration fee by 85 percent, and the Marine Department has also streamlined its administration procedures allowing ships to be registered in just four hours," Tsui added. Since the introduction of Flag State Quality Control system, the Port State Control detention of Hong Kong registered ships has declined from 16 in 1998 to 10 in 1999, an improvement of almost 40 percent. "We already have the hardware in place in terms of the port and terminals, which are well established and looked after by private enterprise but there is definitely more we can do with our software by providing more support services," the director noted. "All of these initiatives are part of our continuous program to show the industry that Hong Kong is leading the way in world shipping," Tsui concluded. |
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