Keynote address - NI HKG

1.  Chairman, my dear friends in the Nautical Institute, ladies and

gentlemen, good morning to you all.

2.  I am most privileged to have been invited to join you on board this

beautiful cruise ship for an exchange of ideas on the interesting subject of

“Marine Spatial Planning” with maritime professionals and other

stakeholders in Hong Kong’s waterways.

What is Marine Spatial Planning?

3.  Allow me to start by giving you an illustration of what Marine

Spatial Planning (MSP) means. I believe you would be familiar with

this example. Land is a very precious resource in the world as ocean

covers 70% of the earth’s surface. It is therefore the public policy of

some governments to regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way in

order to prevent conflicts among stakeholders, taking into consideration

of their own constraints or interests. Land use planning is a tool adopted

by some governments to manage land development and to plan for the

ever-growing demand of the community in terms of housing,

transportation, utilities, recreation, etc. while safeguarding natural

resources.

4.  Similarly, some governments employ MSP for the effective use of

water areas under their jurisdiction. According to the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, MSP is a public

process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution

of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic and

social objectives through professional studies and consultation to reach

the most possible consensus. This is the basic concept that I will follow

in illustrating the role of the Hong Kong Marine Department in the

management and planning of the Port of Hong Kong.

5.  Hong Kong is fortunate in having a sheltered natural harbour

providing good access and a safe haven for vessels calling from around

the world. Hong Kong is located on the Far East trade routes and is in

the geographical centre of the Asia-Pacific region. Its excellent natural

geographical location is just one of the factors that have enabled Hong

Kong to transform successfully from a small fishing village into an

international maritime centre over some 170 years. The concerted

efforts of the government, the private sector and the people of Hong

Kong as well as our strong drive for excellence have also been

indispensable in contributing to the success and continued development

of the Port of Hong Kong. The role of the Hong Kong Marine

Department is to plan and manage the Port of Hong Kong so as to

facilitate the safe and expeditious movement of ships, cargoes and

passengers within Hong Kong waters.

6.  Strategically located in the now fast-developing Asia-Pacif

Region, Hong Kong is also a gateway to southern China. Our port is

well-served by frequent sailings to and from ports around the world.

About 190,900 vessels (30,700 ocean-going vessels (OGVs) and 160,200

river trade vessels (RTVs)) entered into Hong Kong waters in 2012, with

about 410 liner services per week connecting to 520 destinations

worldwide. Of these, about 220 were intra-Asia shipping services.

These figures underpin Hong Kong’s position as a regional hub port.

7.  The Hong Kong Port is renowned for its efficient cargo handling

operations. It handled 23.1 million TEUs of containers last year. This

basically involves four major modes of operation to cope with the

different operational and business needs of shippers and consignees.

These modes of operation are, namely the Kwai Tsing Container

Terminals, mid-stream operation, the River Trade Terminal and the public

cargo working areas.

8.  As a matter of fact, the Hong Kong Port is also known for

providing fast and wide-ranging cross-boundary ferry services for

conveying passengers to and from Hong Kong and Macau as well as 10

nearby ports within the Pearl River Delta region in the Mainland. In

2012, the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, the China Ferry Terminal

and the Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal handled a total of 26 million

passengers with 136,500 ferry trips operating to or from these terminals.

9.  On average, the Hong Kong Port handles about 44 TEUs of

containers and 49 cross-boundary ferry passengers every minute.

10.  Maintaining the efficiency of the port could, no doubt, contribute

towards the economic growth of the city. However, we know that it will

not be achievable if we ignore the safety of marine traffic. Our port

handles 1,040 movements of OGVs and RTVs every day. Besides, there

are 124 high speed passenger ferries travelling around the port and about

17,000 local vessels simultaneously providing support to the shipping

activities in the waters of Hong Kong. The Marine Department plays

the very important role of regulating the very heavy marine traffic in the

port. We plan the waterways and manage marine traffic for vessels

navigating in the waters of Hong Kong to ensure that their visits and

operation are as safe and expeditious as possible.

11.  The comprehensive marine traffic management system of Hong

Kong designed by the Marine Department consists of the following major

components to regulate the diverse and dense traffic in the waters of

Hong Kong:

11.1 strategic waterway delineation in the form of traffic separation

schemes and fairways ensures systematic organization in the

movement of vessels so that mariners may navigate in a safe

manner amidst the dense traffic, thus the risk of collision is

minimized. For instance, traffic separation schemes are in

operation in the East Lamma Channel and the Tathong Channel;

11.2 special measures in the Ma Wan and Kap Shui Mun areas control

the direction of marine traffic flow to minimize head-on encounters.

These special measures are the establishment of traffic lights and

waiting areas at appropriate locations for vessel traffic control;

11.3 special controls are in force in areas of dense traffic, e.g. vessels of

greater than 120 metres in length are generally prohibited from

transiting the busy Central Harbour unless there is a genuine need

and the traffic situation so permits;

11.4 the Vessel Traffic Control Centre (VTC) operates 24/7 to monitor

continuously the traffic situation and regulate vessel movements

through the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system. This system

consists of 12 shore-based radars and a computerized radar

surveillance system that could automatically track a maximum of

5,000 targets at any one time. This enables the VTC to virtually

visualize the marine traffic situation in different areas of Hong

Kong on electronic display units. Based on the information

provided by this system, our vessel traffic regulators are able to

provide traffic information and advice to mariners through VHF

communication. They could also issue directions to ships which do

not comply with international or local regulations or which may

endanger other port users. Furthermore, there are 12 closed

CCTV cameras installed at various strategic locations, e.g. areas of

heavy traffic at Ma Wan, Kau Yi Chau and Waglan Island, to

provide real time visual vessel images. The VTS system is also

capable of receiving and displaying information of vessels

transmitted by AIS on board the vessels;

11.5 the Harbour Patrol Section operates 25 patrol launches to provide

immediate on-scene support for the VTC and responds to maritime

emergencies as well as enforce marine legislative requirements;

11.6 compulsory pilotage for visiting vessels of above 3,000 gross tons;

and

11.7 about 530 aids to navigation are placed and maintained in the

waters of Hong Kong for the safety of navigation.

12.  Apart from the marine traffic system, some new projects are under

progress to enhance the competitiveness of the Hong Kong Port and step

up regulation of the marine traffic in certain water areas. These projects

are outlined below.

12.1 Three new fairways are proposed to be established in the waters

north of Lantau Island. Those waters are home to one of the

busiest waterways in Hong Kong, with as many as 800 vessel

movements per day. Vessels of various types and sizes are

involved. These include large deep draught coal carriers, tankers,

ultra large container ships, ocean tugs, river trade vessels and high

speed ferries. Although a general traffic pattern has been formed

by the majority of vessels, crossing and head-on situations

frequently happen. For this reason and taking into account the

recommendations in the Marine Accident Investigation Report on

the collision accident between “Neftegaz-67” and “Yao Hai” in

2008, the three-fairway proposal was raised based on the findings

of a related traffic review and the results of navigational scenarios

studies conducted with navigational simulations, following

consultations with the Hong Kong Pilot Association, the concerned

Mainland Authorities. The establishment of the three fairways

involves the re-location of navigation buoys. It will improve the

organization of marine traffic in the water areas concerned. This

proposal was endorsed separately by the Pilot Advisory Committee

and Port Operation Committee this year. Further consultation

with other stakeholders will follow. Implementation of this

project is expected in the last quarter of 2014.

12.2 The VTS system of the Marine Department started operation back

in 1989. To cope with technological advancement and traffic

growth, the system needs to be continuously upgraded. The 1st

generation VTS system was upgraded in 2002 using the latest

technology at the time to cater for anticipated traffic growth for the

next decade. Likewise, it is now time to further upgrade the

system to meet future challenges with the application of

state-of-the-art technology. Funding for the new system has been

approved by the Legislative Council. The Marine Department is

now working closely with the Electrical and Mechanical Services

Department on the technical specifications of the new system

which will be able to monitor 10,000 targets simultaneously. We

are planning to invite tenders in end this year for the procurement

and installation of the new system. The project is expected to be

completed in the third quarter of 2016.

12.3 To cope with its operational needs, the Marine Department has,

since April 2013, operated a 24-hour Command Centre under the

Harbour Patrol Section to support the harbour patrol fleet in

discharging its patrol duties in a more effective and efficient

manner, in particular when dealing with marine emergencies and

incidents and enforcing the law.

12.4 Currently, the water depth at the Kwai Tsing Container Basin and

its approach channel is not sufficient for the navigation of the new

generation of ultra large container ships (ULCS) at all tides. In

order to maintain the competitiveness of our container port as a

regional hub port, and to meet the demand of the container

shipping industry, the SAR Government is taking forward a project

to dredge the sea-bed of the Kwai Tsing Container Basin and some

portions of the Northern Fairway and Western Fairway to a

navigable depth of 17 metres below chart datum. The dredging

contract commenced on 30 August 2013. Upon completion of the

project by the end of 2015, ULCS can proceed directly to the

container terminals without the need of waiting for the tidal

window. Apart from the Marine Department, various government

departments also have roles to play in this project. For instance,

the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the

Environmental Protection Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries

and Conservation Department and the Drainage Services

Department etc are involved throughout the planning, consultation

and dredging stages.

12.5 Typhoon Shelter Assessments have been periodically conducted by

the Marine Department with involvement from the Transport and

Housing Bureau, the Planning Department, and the Civil

Engineering and Development Department since 1998. The

assessments aim to forecast the projected situation of demand and

supply of sheltered space and provide input for the Government to

plan the provision of typhoon shelters. Owing to recent industry

concerns about berthing spaces for pleasure vessels and as an

initiative to tie in with the next assessment, the Marine Department

is planning to conduct an overall review of the status of all local

vessels regarding their place of stay during normal days and under

adverse weather. Like land resources, water areas are very limited

in Hong Kong. So studying how to make the best use of such

areas will be one of the objectives of the review.

12.6 To protect the marine environment, we are working on two

legislative exercises to control emissions from vessels. One is to

enhance the control on dark-smoke emission and the other is to

give effect to the latest MARPOL Annex VI requirements. In

addition, through our Vessel Traffic Services Information System,

we have also assisted the Environmental Protection Department in

implementing an incentive scheme to encourage OGVs to switch to

low sulphur fuel while at berth by reducing 50% of the port

facilities and light dues.

13.  The Port of Hong Kong is one of the busiest in the world, being

visited by a huge number of different types of vessels. Having said

that, its overall safety record has been “very good in such a diverse and

busy port”, as noted in an expert report.

14.  Over the last ten years, there were on average about 340 vessel

traffic incidents against hundreds of thousands of vessel movements per

year. Most of the incidents were minor in nature, but there have been

exceptional and individual cases of serious accidents like the collision

near Lamma Island. The main reason for the low incidence rate, we

believe, is that we have a high level of co-operation with responsible

players in the industry. We work in partnership with them, frequently

exchanging views and exploring new initiatives so that we can make

appropriate plans, policies and decisions that best suit the needs of our

port as well as maritime businesses. I trust the measures and projects

outlined to you in this presentation have served to illustrate that.

15.  There are other marine projects in the pipeline that require careful

studies and thoughtful planning such as the realignment of fairways in

Central and Western Harbour and the extension of anchorages in the

southern part of Hong Kong waters. The Marine Department will

follow the established communication channels with the industry to work

out the most feasible proposals in our on-going efforts to improve marine

traffic and enhance the competitiveness of the Port of Hong Kong.

16.  Let me close by emphasizing that we are all responsible for the

present and future marine spatial planning in Hong Kong. The marine

spatial planning can only be effective and efficient if we act together as

ONE. Let us then be united in our purpose and be ONE in promoting

excellence in marine spatial planning.

Thank you.

November 2013

Marine Department

Hong Kong