HONG KONG’s container port will be able to handle ultra-large container vessels at all tides once dredging works to deepen the depth of the Kwai Tsing container basin and its approach channel from 15 metres to 17.5 metres are completed next year.
This was disclosed by Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, at the opening ceremony of the Global Port Research Alliance Conference on “Port and Logistics Connectivity” held at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
In 2014 Hong Kong’s container port handled 22.2 million TEU with 350 sailings every week to 510 destinations worldwide. One-fifth of Mainland China’s international trade is handled by Hong Kong.
“To provide additional capacity for port throughput, the government is considering measures to further enhance the port’s efficiency through provision of more barge berths and improved utilisation of port back-up land,” said Mr Cheung.
The secretary pointed out that to strengthen Hong Kong’s role as the preferred logistics hub in Asia, the government is undertaking major infrastructure projects to enhance the city’s physical connectivity with China and the rest of the world.
On the land side, the government is pressing ahead with the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to expand the transportation network into the western part of the Pearl River Delta region.
To enhance the airport’s handling capacity, Mr Cheung said: “The Hong Kong Airport Authority is taking forward the implementation of the three-runway system, with a target commissioning date of 2023.
“The future three-runway system will increase the practical maximum capacity of the airport by 60 per cent, to handle about 100 million passengers and close to nine million tonnes of cargo per year by 2030,” he said.
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