Port of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

In the 1990s, the Port of Hong Kong was the strongest and most effective in southern China. But given the rise of China and other surrounding ports in recent years, Hong Kong has since slipped. This is the first time the Port of Hong Kong has not made the top five.

The Port of Hong Kong had several reigns as the world’s busiest port: from 1987 to 1989, 1992 to 1997, and most recently from 1999 to 2004 before it was overtaken by the Port of Singapore. Like Singapore and Busan, the Port of Hong Kong is also an important transshipment port.




Responsibility for administering the port is vested in the Director of Marine. The Port Operations Committee advises him on all matters affecting the efficient operations of the port, except those matters that are the responsibility of the Pilotage Advisory Committee and the Provisional Local Vessels Advisory Committee. The Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board (HKMPB) advises the Government on matters related to port planning and development and promoting Hong Kong as a regional hub port and a leading container port in the world as well as on measures to further develop Hong Kong's maritime industry and to promote Hong Kong's position as an international maritime centre. The HKMPB replaced (in April 2016) the former Hong Kong Maritime Industry Council and Hong Kong Port Development Council and is chaired by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, as they both were.




The Marine Department is responsible for ensuring that conditions exist to enable ships to enter the port, work their cargoes and leave as quickly and as safely as possible. It is concerned with many aspects of safety standards for all classes and types of vessels, from the largest oil-carrying tankers to the smallest passenger-carrying sampans. It also maintains aids to navigation and mooring buoys for seagoing ships, manages three cross-boundary ferry terminals and administers eight public cargo working areas.




All fairway buoys are lit and fitted with radar reflectors. Traffic Separation Schemes operate in the East Lamma Channel and Tathong Channel. The Marine Department's VHF radio network provides comprehensive marine communication coverage throughout the harbour and its approaches. The department has direct communication links with other maritime authorities and users worldwide. Locally, the department's Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) maintains direct contact with emergency response services, which include the Government Flying Service, Marine Police and Fire Services. MRCC provides 24-hour maritime distress alert monitoring and co-ordinates all maritime search and rescue operations within the Hong Kong search and rescue region in the South China Sea.




A comprehensive vessel traffic service is provided by the department's Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC), with radar surveillance and tracking capabilities as well as a fully integrated data handling sub-system, covers 95% of Hong Kong waters used by seagoing vessels and ferries. The VTC offers advice on the activities of other vessels and gives navigational information to mariners through a sectorised VHF network. This ensures the safety standard and traffic efficiency of the port. An upgraded vessel tracking system, which can track 4,000 moving vessels plus 1,000 stationary targets in real time, has been in operation since early 2002. It provides the latest technology such as AIS, ECDIS, CCTV, new VHF-direction finders and modern communications systems to further improve navigation safety and operation efficiency. Marine Department patrol launches maintain a watch on shipping, traffic separation schemes, fairways, navigational channels, typhoon shelter and cargo-working areas. They provide on-scene support to the VTC, and are in continuous radio contact with the VTC and local marine traffic control stations located at Ma Wan and Kwai Chung Container Port. The VTC is thus able to promptly initiate and co-ordinate actions required to facilitate safe navigation in the port.




The Hydrographic Office of the Marine Department surveys Hong Kong waters and produces nautical charts to facilitate safe navigation within the port. It functions with reference to the standards laid down by the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO). Notices to Mariners are promulgated fortnightly to update bilingual nautical charts. A Differential Global Positioning System correction signal is broadcast continuously on 289 kHz to assist mariners using GPS navigation to position-fix their vessels more accurately. Tidal height predictions and real-time tidal information are provided on the department's website. Pilotage is compulsory for ships of 3,000 gross tons and above and gas carriers of any tonnage. Quarantine and immigration facilities are available on a 24-hour basis. Advance immigration clearance and radio pratique may be obtained by certain vessels on application.