Hong Kong, trade gateway to the world

by Jeni Bone on 8 May 2010 Looking more like a forest of beings from science fiction, the Port of Hong Kong and its container terminals are a hub port serving the South Asian Pacific region and entry point for the Mainland of China.

Occupying most of Western Kowloon and up in to the New Territories, it is one of the busiest container ports in the world (second to Singapore and closely matched by Shenzhen these days) in terms of shipping movements, cargo handled and passengers carried.

On the edge of the South China Sea, it’s a deepwater seaport tucked away from most adverse weather conditions, ideal for berthing and handling all types of vessels. The harbour's strategic location on the South China Sea was the reason for Hong Kong's value as a British colony and its evolution as a global trading centre.

An average of 220,000 ships visit the harbour each year, including both ocean going vessels and river vessels, for both goods and passengers. The Kwai Chung Container Terminals in the western part of the harbour is the main container handling facility, operating round the clock and handling about 62 percent of the 21,930 TEUs handled by the territory. Some 400 container liners serve Hong Kong weekly, connecting to over 500 destinations around the world.

Hong Kong set a record in its container throughput in 2007 by handling 23.9 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units of containers). Some 456,000 vessels arrived in and departed from Hong Kong during the year, carrying 243 million tonnes of cargo and about 25 million passengers. The average turnaround time for container vessels in Hong Kong is about 10 hours.

Hurtling by on the road above, on another construction marvel – the Stonecutter Bridge – on our way to the Gold Coast Boat Show, the cranes and containers stretched for miles around the waterfront, dwarfing the colonial buildings that are marine, army and administration related.

There are nine container terminals situated at Kwai Chung, Stonecutters Island and Tsing Yi. More container handling happens at the River trade terminal at Tuen Mun and by mid-stream. Due to high costs in handling fees at the container terminals, Hong Kong has become the only place in the world with at-sea loading and unloading operations.

These mid-stream operations involve loading and unloading containers to and from ships while at sea, with barges or dumb steel lighters handling the transfer, and then distributing or landing the containers to piers nearby.
Currently, there are 11 different yard sites solely for mid-stream operations, occupying a total land area of 27.5 hectares and waterfrontage of 3197 metres.

The port and other facilities around Hong Kong and its islands, have extensive facilities for repairing, maintaining, drydocking and slipping for vessels ranging from the largest container ships, ferries, cruiser liners and patrol craft as well as catering to the luxury and leisure market.

It’s a man-made wonder and if you can find a viewing platform, or perhaps a seat in an air conditioned restaurant in a tower overlooking Kowloon, a real eye-full.