香港特別行政區政府海事處 MARINE DEPARTMENT HKSAR GOVERNMENT Issue No. 41 • January 2011 Maritime Awareness Week recognises the industry’s and seafarers’ contributions The Maritime Awareness Week Shipowners Association with the (MAW) from October 25 to 31, 2010 support from various maritime- was a collective attempt to celebrate related organisations, was to recog- the maritime services’ contributions nise the substantial contributions of to Hong Kong and the achievements the maritime industry to our economy of seafarers. and to pay tribute to seafarers. Speaking at the opening ceremony The activities held during the MAW of the MAW on October 25, 2010, the included representative profession- Acting Chief Executive, Mr Henry als from the maritime industry giving Tang noted, “We will capitalise on talks to students in universities. The our unique institutional strengths in- topics ranged from ship chartering, cluding the rule of law, status as a free maritime insurance, finance to Also, the Hong Kong Shipowners port, a simple and low tax regime, law. Participating institutes and Association and Civic Exchange co- free flow of information and capital, programmes included the Faculty of organised a session presenting the and our world-class and truly Law, the University of Hong Kong; the findings of a major research project integrated maritime-related Department of Logistics and Maritime on ship-sourced pollution. Before the services.” Studies, the Hong Kong Polytechnic seminar, a presentation was held to The MAW, jointly University; and the Master of Laws recognise carriers who had agreed to organised by the Hong (Maritime and Transportation Law) sign up to the Fair Winds Charter, a Kong Maritime Industry programme, the City University of voluntary fuel switch programme for Council and the Hong Kong Hong Kong. ocean-going vessels calling at Hong Kong. Legacy of MAW More information of the MAW, includ- ing press releases, photos, video footage and the like, is available at http: //www. maritimeawarenessweek.org.hk/. Mr Henry Tang (centre) officiating at the opening of the MAW. Looking on (from left) are Chairman of Hong Kong Shipowners Association, Mr Kenneth Koo; Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng; LegCo Member, Ms Miriam Lau, and Director of Marine, Mr Roger Tupper. HONG KONG MARITIME NEWS Industry-wide interests development of the maritime industry. About 200 participants from the in- discussed at seminar dustry and related training institutions attended the seminar, which featured A one-day seminar on the Mari- seminar, the Permanent Secretary for speakers from the Marine Depart- time Labour Convention 2006, China Transport and Housing (Transport), ment, Chinese Ministry of Transport, oil pollution regulations and maritime Mr Francis Ho, said that the maritime Shanghai Maritime University, China security was jointly organised by the industry had long underpinned the Shipowners’ Association, Hong Kong Hong Kong Shipowners Association, world’s economic development and Shipowners Association, Hong Kong Hong Kong Seamen’s Union and Hong that the three topics of the seminar, Seamen’s Union, Chinese Seamen’s Kong Maritime Industry Council on namely the well-being of seafarers, Union, and ship management, marine October 26, 2010. marine pollution and piracy, were all insurance and pollution clearance Addressing the opening of the of major interests to the long-term companies. Organisers and speakers of the seminar pose for a group picture. Church service for seafarers, charity dinner with auction October 28, 2010 was designated Port Welfare Committee (PWC). as “Seafarer’s Day”. A special church Altogether there were 12 maritime service dedicated to seafarers and and other memorabilia for auction. a charity dinner with auction were The auctioneer, Director of the Hong held at the Mariners’ Club, Tsim Sha Kong Maritime Museum Dr Stephen Tsui. Davies, introduced each item before Enthusiastic responses to the auction. The theme of the service at St it went under the hammer. Through a Peter’s Church of the Mariners’ Club highlighted the contributions heated bidding process, all the items made by seafarers to our every day were sold at good prices, fetch- lives. The congregation of 70 people ing a total of $41,400 for the PWC. represented different aspects of the Together with the proceeds from the shipping community including sea- dinner, a total sum of over $58,000 farers from vessels in the port. was raised in the evening for the In the same evening, over PWC. 120 guests attended a charity dinner with auction hosted by the 2 HONG KONG MARITIME NEWS Yeung, also pointed out that many “Think Maritime Day” incentive schemes launched by the Government encouraged young people shows career opportunities to pursue a seafaring career. Tak- ing the Sea-going Training Incentive The “Think Maritime Day” was held mony, Mr Yau said that the MSTI had Scheme as an example, among the 140 on October 27, 2010 during which a been offering multifarious courses to entrants to the scheme over the years, tree planting ceremony was conducted train elites for the maritime industry more than half of them were MSTI in the Vocational Training Council’s and was indeed one of nurturing graduates. The training period of deck Maritime Services Training Institute cradles of the seafaring manpower and engine cadets lasted for 24 and (VTC’s MSTI). Also, a number of of Hong Kong. In recent years, the six months respectively at the longest. talks were organised to promote to the number of young people entering the Each is eligible for the Government’s young people the career opportunities maritime industry has been rising and subsidy of $5,000 each month during in the maritime industry. the MSTI has played an important role cadetship. Upon passing the practi- The tree planting ceremony was in consolidating Hong Kong’s position cal training and obtaining the related officiated by the Under Secretary as a major maritime centre. qualifications, the entrants would be for Transport and Housing, Mr The Manager of the MSTI, Mr Tony reimbursed for the examination fees. Yau Shing-mu; LegCo Member Ms Miriam Lau; Chairman of Hong Kong (From left) Dr Shipowners Association, Mr Kenneth Lawrence Chan, Koo; Chairman of the VTC Maritime Mr Kenneth Services Training Board, Mr Andrew Koo, Mr Yau Shing-mu, Ms Chen, and Principal of the Hong Miriam Lau, and Kong Institute of Vocational Educa- Mr Andrew Chen tion (Tsing Yi), Dr Lawrence Chan. officiating at the tree planting Together they planted cypresses on ceremony. the MSTI campus, symbolising the collaboration of the Government, in- dustry and the academy to train up new blood for the maritime industry. Addressing the tree planting cere- HK opens new nautical study centre The Nautical Study Centre of the Hong Kong Seamen’s Union (HKSU), which is the first centre in the terri- tory dedicated to provide professional training and learning facilities for sea- farers free of charge, was opened on October 28, 2010. Located at A4, 2/F, United Court, 37G Jordon Road, the centre’s study room is designed for the use of a maxi- mum of 20 people. The library has a collection of over 200 types of books, from engineering to nautical fields. In addition, it houses publications of the International Maritime Organization, training videos, training manuals and charts. To establish this centre, the Government set aside one million dol- lars for the procurement of informa- (From left) Captain Li Chi-wai; Mr Roger Tupper; Vice-chairman of Chinese Seamen and Construc- tion materials. tion Workers’ Union, Mr Zhu Linqing, and Vice-chairman of the HKSU, Mr Wong Kwok-kin, clapping Speaking at the opening ceremony, after unveiling the plaque. the Director of Marine, Mr Roger Tupper, said that the centre would for their seafaring examinations. on the maritime industry. The HKSU achieve two purposes. Firstly, local Secondly, active marine professions students could study at the centre could find there the latest information continued on page 4 3 HONG KONG MARITIME NEWS Celebrating HK Shipping Registry’s two decades of achievements The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, and prominent figures of Hong Kong’s maritime industry joined a luncheon on October 29, 2010 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Shipping Registry (HKSR). In a keynote speech during the event, Ms Cheng congratulated the autonomous HKSR on its impressive achievements as a shining example of first-rate service offered by the Hong Kong maritime cluster. The HKSR was set up on December 3, 1990. Starting with a gross tonnage of six million, it was the fifth largest register globally and has passed the 54 million mark. She also pointed out that con- solidating Hong Kong’s position as Officiating at the cake cutting ceremony are (from left) Mr Wellington Koo representing ex-Chairman of Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA), Mr David Koo; Chairman of HKSOA, a renowned international maritime Mr Kenneth Koo; Ms Eva Cheng; Member of 1989 Steering Group of HKSR, Mr Tony Clark; centre and reinforcing the maritime ex-Director of Marine, Mr Michael Sze, and Mr Roger Tupper. cluster had always ranked high on the agenda of the Government and would remain so. Ms Cheng noted that Hong Kong’s Ms Eva Cheng (left) truly global reach and high frequency presents a com- memorative plaque of sailings have helped maintain and to Captain P H Lam to reinforce its status as an international recognise his dedication hub port. for years in organis- Also speaking at the luncheon, ing cadet placements and pre-qualification the Director of Marine, Mr Roger courses for cadets. Tupper, echoed Ms Cheng’s view on Hong Kong’s status as an international hub port. He said, “This large fleet, amongst the top five in the world, pro- vides a constant visual reminder in the great port cities around the globe that Hong Kong is a truly world maritime city.” continued from page 3 HK opens new nautical study centre and Hong Kong Shipowners Asso- ciation have joined hands to organise small classes and short tutorial classes for these candidates.