goes live nGen goes live nGen - Hongkong International Terminals

HIT 

Spring 2005 No.1 

HIT HI News 

The wait is finally over! nGen has 

arrived! Our completely 

redesigned terminal management 

system has gone live at Hongkong 

International Terminals (HIT) on 16th 

February this year. 

The brand new nGen system replaces 

our award-winning 3P Terminal 

Management System that has served us 

faithfully for more than eight years. nGen, 

in short for Next Generation Terminal 

Management System, is a complete rewrite 

using enhanced process logics and the 

latest open computer technologies. With 

the implementation of nGen, the system 

4 

HIT Customer Survey 5 Focus on Gaolan 6 ICIS Scanning 

7 Hyundai Merchant Marine 11 

controls the entire scope of terminal 

operations from ship and yard planning, 

gate operations, vessel operations and 

interactions, yard configuration and 

performance, overall operations 

monitoring, equipment utilisation, 

productivity to costs optimisation. With 

extensive operational experience and 

powerful algorithms embedded in many 

different operating environments, nGen is 

able to offer the best automated operating 

solution to our customers. 

nGen is the first major system 

co-development project between HIT 

and Yantian International Container 

Entrepôt 

nGen 

goes live 

Terminals (YICT). Harnessing our expertise 

since day one, a diverse cross-terminal 

project team from Terminal Operations, 

Operations Development, and Information 

Services was pulled together to make nGen 

a reality. The project team set a simple 

yet significant objective for itself to develop 

a scalable, functional, and reliable system 

that is better than any other commercially 

available terminal operation platform for 

the South China Division of Hutchison Port 

Holdings (HPH) and its subsidiaries 

throughout the world. 

This massive joint development effort 

has already proven itself when nGen went 

16 

Continued on page 2 

HIT News, Spring 2005 

Caring Company Award

2 

Leader’s Column 

A time for action: 

Meeting our 

customers’ needs 

Following the overwhelming response to our Customer 

Satisfaction Study last year, I mentioned that even though 

we think we are doing a good job, in some areas our 

customers think otherwise. 

As a result of the survey, we have taken concrete steps to address 

some of those issues and improve communications between HIT 

and our customers. The first step has been to launch the HIT 

Monthly Bulletin, an electronic bulletin which provides a regular 

update of events and news delivered directly to our customers on 

their desktops. 

We have also significantly reduced the waiting time at the Barge 

Centre, which will help improve efficiency, and save time and money 

for our customers. 

In terms of responsibility, we have now delegated customer 

account responsibility to our I.T. department, so that our clients 

know who to deal with directly when issues arise. This will help 

improve response time and provide peace of mind for our 

customers. 

We have also introduced a free shuttle bus service that links 

Terminals 4, 6 and 7 with Terminal 9. This service is free to all our 

customers and business associates. 

The overall message is that we always have to be aware of what 

our customers need; this can be accomplished through improving 

communications and delivering the right solutions, or meeting those 

needs so that service excellence can be achieved. 

Eric Ip 

Managing Director 

Hongkong International Terminals 


Launch of n 

(continued from cover) 

live at YICT in 2003. In addition, HIT and YICT have 

collectively laid a robust collaboration platform for all 

future nGen launches to other HPH ports. 

As the Chairperson of the nGen Steering Committee, 

Edmond Leung, who still wears his nGen badge on his 

sleeve, has every reason to be proud of what his team 

has achieved. 

“It was both an exciting and nerve-racking time, 

working in the Command Centre with staff from so 

many departments. To ensure smooth system migration 

with no interruption to serving our customers, our 

people worked selflessly throughout the Chinese New 

Year holidays, giving up the opportunity to return home 

and spend the festive season with their families. The 

pressure was high but our people handled it very well. 

More importantly, we need to thank our valued 

customers for their full support of nGen,” said Edmond. 

“What is different about nGen is that the system 

becomes more accessible to all our business partners as 

well as our operational staff - achieved through improved 

design, streamlined operational flow and broader 

connectivity by integrating the information flow 

seamlessly throughout the extended business 

community,” said Edmond. Indeed, the interactive and 

community-based system allows our customers to have 

greater control of the supply chain, again on a 24/7 

basis, inter-operable through the latest internet 

technology. 

Customers can be assured of the reliability of nGen, 

which has been validated under stringent independent 

review by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where 

eminent professors from the Hong Kong Polytechnic 

University visited our Development Centre and reviewed 

the design documentation, project standards and 

procedures, as well as interviewed members from the 

project team. “They fully endorsed nGen’s architectural 

design and that gave us the green light to move ahead 

with the phased introduction of the system at YICT and 

HIT,” said Edmond. 

There are many new and unique features in nGen, 

some of which include scalability, real-time operator 

alerts, and configurable business rules. 

Using industry standard open platform technologies 

such as Java and XML, nGen is truly scalable across all 

non-proprietary computer system hardware. From a

Gen at HIT 

small feeder terminal 

operation requiring a 

small-scale server setup 

to large hub ports 

relying on full server 

room support, nGen 

has been designed to 

support all platforms. 

W ith real-time 

operator alerts, each 

control staff can 

customise more than a 

dozen automated alerts 

to suit different 

situations. These alerts 

not only allow the 

operators to take 

appropriate actions at 

appropriate times, but 

also relieve on-the-job 

pressure. Operators 

today don’t need to 

look at the computer screen for lengthy 

periods of time anymore to look for 

problem areas! 

Finally, nGen has over one hundred 

user-definable business rules that can be 

fine-tuned. For example, an operator can 

adjust the laden box grounding and 

internal tractor deployment rules to meet 

customers’ specific operating requirements. 

No more reprogramming and compiling, 

as nGen now adapts effortlessly. 

“nGen truly lives out our motto of 

doing more with less. With nGen, HIT and 

YICT are well positioned to meet 

increasing throughput and productivity 

requirements well into the next decade 

and beyond. With scalability in mind, we 

have designed nGen to work in all HPH 

ports around the globe. Most importantly, 

we have an experienced team with people 

who are committed to implementing 

nGen wherever our business is located,” 

concluded Edmond. 

Customs 

EDI 

Customer 

Customer 

Customer 

Plus Plus Plus 

IVRS 

SMS 

OnePort 

Community Interface 

nGen Interface 

Planning 

Execution 

& 

Control 

Reporting 

nGen 

Intelligence 

Modules 

Interface 

Lead Story 

Guider 

Ship Planning 

OMS 

Operations 

Monitoring System 

TRACS 

Terminal Reporting 

& Communication System 

TOPS 

Terminal Operation 

Planning System 

EDR 

Enterprise Data 

Repository 

Billing 

System 


3

4 

Latest Update 

Customers have their say 

in wide ranging study 

As the container 

terminal business 

becomes more 

competitive, understanding 

customer needs and 

delivering timely solutions 

have become critical factors 

in sustaining the company’s 

reputation as a market leader. 

HIT recently completed its 

most comprehensive and 

detailed survey to find out what 

our customers really think of us. 

The 2004 Customer Satisfaction 

Survey was the most in-depth and wide 

ranging study to date, with a more 

sophisticated methodology that provided 

Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) 

with detailed feedback from its major 

shipping line clients on its performance 

and service levels. 

The objectives were to measure the 

operational performance of HIT services 

compared to its competitors and the level 

of interaction between HIT and its 

customers, which will allow the company 

to highlight areas that need special 

attention and consequently improve 

service quality in those areas. 

The survey was designed to solicit 

upfront feedback from a broad ‘band’ of 

managers and officers working for 

customers, with primary aim to have a linear 

set of responses rather than ‘top down’ 

solely from senior managers. One-to-one 

interviews were carried out between HIT 

staff and nominated personnel from 18 

major carriers calling at HIT over a threemonth 

period. 


Service levels and facilities received high 

marks from customers who took part in the 

survey, notably for Hong Kong and Asia. 

This took into account the friendliness of 

HIT staff, how they rated yard facilities, and 

how reliable services are. Customers were 

also asked about how confident they feel 

in using HIT and provided feedback on the 

level of efficiency on the services provided. 

The study also aimed to establish 

benchmarks and tracking that can be used 

in future studies. The purpose of the study 

was not to find fault, but rather to provide a 

consistent and valuable communication tool that 

opens up new channels with HIT’s customers. 

Overall, the results reflected confidence 

in HIT staff because of their positive attitude 

and responsiveness and generally HIT’s 

facilities and management were rated 

highly. Close attention also has to be paid 

to improving flexibility especially when 

dealing with customer representatives. 

There were also responses that indicated 

that a continuous process of improvement 

should be implemented. 

Immediate action has been taken to 

launch the HIT Monthly Bulletin to provide 

customers with the latest information 

regarding a wide range of events, operational 

changes, new IT initiatives and service 

information, all of which are aimed at 

improving communications with our 

customers. HIT will continue to make use 

of the survey findings to address longerterm 

organisational issues and regularly 

seek improvements on proactiveness in 

keeping customers informed and flexibility 

to meet special needs. 

“ HIT scored well in customer service levels compared to other 

terminals in Hong Kong, China and the rest of Asia, and staff attitude 

also ranked highly. However, a significant area that could have further 

improvement is being more proactive. We have already taken 

concrete steps to address this pressing issue by increasing the level of 

communication with our customers and we will continue to address 

this area in our organisational developments. ” 

Ken Chou, General Manager -Strategic Planning, said:

China 

Magazine 

Deep water container port 

development underway at Gaolan 

The expansion of China’s economy 

and the rapid industrial and 

commercial development in the 

South China region have presented Gaolan 

with vast opportunities in shaping it to 

become an important shipping centre 

for production, distribution and 

manufacturing platform for the world. 

Strategically located at Zhuhai, one of 

the earliest special economic zones 

in China and most popular spot for 

foreign investment, Gaolan Port, or 

Zhuhai International Container 

Terminals (Gaolan) (ZICT(G)) as it 

is more commonly-known, is the 

only natural deep-water port on 

the western side of the Pearl River 

Delta (PRD). 

Driving the expansion at the 

port are the numerous growing 

industrial and manufacturing 

zones in Zhuhai, where foreign 

joint-venture manufacturers have 

migrated across the Pearl River to 

take advantage of the lower land 

and labour costs, and a range of 

tax incentives offered to newlyestablished 

businesses. 

“For two decades we have 

seen the eastern side of the PRD 

thrive with Shenzhen and 

Guangzhou becoming major 

production centres for global companies. 

In the last five to six years, companies have 

moved across the river and the industrial 

zones are rapidly growing as there is 

plenty of lower-cost land still available for 

development. Local, provincial and 

national governments are very supportive 

of this initiative as it is in line with their 

“Go West” policy. This environment is 

highly conducive to the development of 

our new dedicated container facilities,” 

said Alfred Leung, General Manager, 

Hutchison Delta Ports (HDP). 

Strategically, Gaolan is well-positioned 

on the western side of the PRD to 

consolidate cargo from the smaller river 

ports along the West River (Xijiang). The 

Phase I multi-purpose terminals are 

positioned to accommodate both 

container and bulk cargo, particularly coal 

for the local power plants and steel for the 

booming construction sector. Together 

with well-connected highways and 

railways network, cargo originating from 

the flourishing manufacturing bases 

throughout the entire South-western 

China region can now directly access 

Gaolan. The new phase, with more 

dedicated container berths, enables 

shippers in the region to further access 

international markets via Gaolan, making 

this region the gateway to the world. 

Collectively, with the growing trade at 

the HDP river terminals at Jiangmen 

International Container Terminals (JMCT) 

and Nanhai International Container 

Terminals (NICT), feeder services for both 

general and containerised cargo are made 

available and this enables shipping lines 

to get closer to the manufacturing centres 

in the PRD. Gaolan Port and all the other 

Delta Ports under the Hutchison Port 

Holdings (HPH) umbrella operate 

seamlessly and play an important part in 

contributing to the success of the Group. 

“As well as the ports at Nanhai and 

Jiangmen, there are other smaller ports 

with growing barge traffic along the West 

Gaolan Port Transportation Network 

River. Moving cargo by barge means that 

shippers do not need to incur highway tolls 

and delays due to traffic congestion can 

be avoided. In addition, a barge can move 

a large number of containers compared to 

one or two on a truck and trailer,”said Leung. 

With the rapid growth of economic 

and trade co-operation between China 

and the ASEAN countries, China has 

capitalised on the flow of goods traded 

between the region’s countries. Gaolan’s 

status as an important shipping hub will 

be further enhanced as China’s trade 

reforms result in significant economic 

growth for the country. 

HIT News, Spring 2005 5

6 

Information 

Technology 

Advanced security system on trial 

at HIT 

Safety and security are 

top priorities at all 

major container 

terminals around the world, 

and it is the same at 

Hongkong International 

Terminals (HIT), where we are 

taking pro-active actions to 

pioneer the latest scanning 

equipment to help track the 

content inside the containers. 

As part of the Hong Kong Container 

Terminal Operators Association (HKCTOA) 

initiative, HIT has joined forces with the 

Science Applications International 

Corporation (SAIC), a US-based research 

and engineering company to test the 

Integrated Container Inspection System 

(ICIS), equipped with radiographic imaging, 

radiation detection and Optical Character 

Recognition (OCR) technologies. The 

scanners are able to detect if there is any 

radioactive material and also if there are any 

suspicious materials inside the containers. 

A specially-designated ICIS truck lane has 

been allocated close to HIT Terminal 6 entry 

gate for testing the system, and is capable 

of scanning high volumes of containers in 

the normal flow of traffic. At the moment, 

there is only one other terminal operator 

at Kwai Chung besides HIT who is taking 

part in the same pilot project. 

“The drive-through scanning system at 

the two terminals at Kwai Chung is the first 

of its kind in the world. Similar scanning 

systems that have been supplied by SAIC to 

the other parts of the world are mainly stopand-go 

systems which are not suitable for 

coping with the high volumes of container 


traffic at sizeable terminals such as HIT. 

The collaboration between HKCTOA 

and SAIC is aimed at testing the ICIS and 

ensuring that it meets the requirements of 

collecting the scanned images and data of 

all the containers entering the terminal 

through the gate, without disrupting 

normal terminal operations. If the ICIS is 

proven to be an effective solution for 

enhancing container security at the terminal 

and supported by the relevant authorities 

and the shipping community, it will be a 

natural progression for all terminal operators 

to adopt ICIS permanently throughout their 

terminals,” said Eddy Ma, General Manager, 

Terminal Operations. 

“We are anticipating that the US 

Customs will introduce tougher security 

measures, including the use of non-intrusive 

inspection devices to pre-screen containers 

at loading ports before they are loaded on 

ships bound for the United States. We are 

very confident that ICIS can meet even 

tougher requirements that are set forth by 

the US Customs,” he added. 

Also important to HIT is the impact the 

system has on traffic management both 

in the yard and also on the public highways 

leading to the terminal. 

“We have been monitoring the traffic 

flow through ICIS and whether it is causing 

a tailback onto the approach roads during 

peak periods. And the impact has been 

manageable so far,” added Eddy. 

“We have been in contact with the 

relevant government authorities to seek 

their views on the use of ICIS. For now, 

we are appraising the system with SAIC 

and HKCTOA and eventually when the 

system has been successfully tried, we will 

then consider the official use of the 

system,” said Eddy. 

ICIS System 

. Enables terminals to scan high 

volumes in normal traffic 

. Integrates data from many sources 

. 

. 

Reduces delays by collecting data 

quickly for later analysis 

Open architecture design facilitates 

integration and expansion

Customer 

Focus 

Hyundai Merchant Marine 

goes from strength-to-strength 

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), 

one of the world’s major shipping 

lines, is expanding its container 

shipping operations on East-West and 

Intra-Asia routes over the next three years, 

according to Mr. J. K. Kim, Managing 

Director, HMM (HK) Ltd. 

“We have enjoyed considerable 

growth during the last three years and in 

order to meet future demand from our 

customers, we have ordered four Super 

Post-Panamax vessels with a capacity of 

8,600-TEU each, which will be delivered 

in 2008,” said Kim. 

“We will continue to achieve significant 

economies of scale by deploying these 

larger vessels on key routes, saving 

additional costs and making our operations 

more competitive. These ships will have a 

speed limit of up to 27 knots, which will 

help us become more responsive to 

customer demand.” 

These very large vessels have a 

maximum capacity of 9,000-TEU and 

comprise of the length of three football 

fields, some 339 metres from bow to stern. 

They also have a 45.6 metre beam and a 

draft of 24.6 metres. 

Additional HMM new vessels include 

an order for eight 6,800-TEU vessels, the 

first of which will be delivered during the 

second quarter of 2006 through to 2007. 

These larger vessels will be deployed on 

East-West routes, to be decided based on 

market demand. 

Completing the additions to the new 

container ship fleet are three 4,700-TEU 

vessels ordered in 2003 which are now 

under construction, and a further five 

vessels of a similar capacity which are due 

for delivery in 2008. 

“We will be deploying some of the 

4,700-TEU vessels on Intra-Asia routes, 

again seeking economies of scale and 

competitive advantage by replacing 

smaller vessels,” said Kim. 

HMM is also looking to expand its 

presence in key Asian markets, notably in 

China, India and Vietnam during 2005. 

“We are opening our own offices in 

Ningbo, Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City 

later this year to strengthen HMM’s 

presence in those markets. We have 

enjoyed sound financial results and are 

now looking to invest in areas where we 

see significant growth in the future,” 

said Kim. 

The HMM Group also has significant 

interests in bulk shipping, as well as a 

rapidly expanding fleet of petroleum 

product carriers. 

“HMM is also involved in container 

terminal operations and inland logistics, 

and we are continuing with our strategic 

investments in these sectors across Asia and 

around the world,” concluded Kim. 


8 

Quayside 

New crane delivery to meet 

of giant carriers 

The next generation 

of Super Post- 

Panamax vessels are 

moving off the drawing 

board and into production 

in shipyards across Europe 

and Asia. Now HIT is taking 

steps to ensure that it can 

provide sufficient quay cranes 

to handle these new giants of 

the sea, well into the future. 

Five new quay cranes arrived at Kwai 

Chung recently from the Zhenhu Port 

Machinery Company (ZPMC) fabrication 

sites in Shanghai, all equipped to handle a 

reach of 23 containers across and a height 

of 43 metres. Three of these cranes have 

been deployed at designated HIT terminals 

throughout Kwai Chung. 

With vessels of 8,000-TEU already sailing 

the seas and plans for ships of more than 

10,000-TEU in the planning stage, container 

terminals have to ramp up their own facilities 

in order to accommodate these behemoths. 

These new 1,400 tonne cranes are part 

of an ongoing process at HIT to maximise 

the limited land available in the yard 

through automation, improved efficiency 

and increased productivity, according 

to Simon Wong, General Manager, 

Engineering Department. 

“In order to meet the need of handling 

a larger throughput of containers from 

Super Post-Panamax vessels, we have 

improved space management by stacking 

one over six and improved the 

performance of Rubber Tyred Gantry 


Cranes through auto steering. This has been 

beneficial to overall yard handling 

performance. We have also upgraded 

container positioning determination equipment 

on yard cranes to accurately detect and 

retrieve containers,” said Simon. 

Saving precious seconds from quay crane 

move has a beneficial and cumulative impact 

on quay side efficiency. And the tractor 

alignment system has also proved to be a 

simple yet effective way of guiding drivers to 

the correct position for quay crane lifts. The 

yard crane lifts will be looked at next. 

“We use a set of lights that are 

illuminated when the tractor and trailer are 

in the correct position, without this the driver 

has to move his chassis backwards and 

forwards until the right alignment with the 

crane hoist,” said Simon. 

Eddy Ma, General Manager of Terminal 

Operations, looked at how the market was 

driving the change for larger vessels. 

“We are seeing an increasing demand 

for raw materials from China and 

manufactured products made in China for 

export around the world. Shipping lines are 

looking for economies of scale so as to reduce 

the cost of adding frequency to meet this 

growing demand for additional capacity on 

major east-west line haul routes,” said Eddy. 

“As a result of this, shipping lines are looking 

to deploy larger vessels to ensure that they have 

the capacity to meet this growing demand, 

particularly at the hub ports,” he added. 

With the larger vessels, increased draft 

is required in the access channel and also 

alongside the berth; and HIT has also taken 

the necessary steps to address this issue. 

“We have to pay close attention to the market 

and look at what is on the horizon in order to 

plan ahead. We have taken an holistic approach at 

HIT looking at how we can maximise efficiency 

in our 92 hectares facility which extends to 

operations on the quayside, quay lanes, container 

yard and the gates,” concluded Eddy.

demand 


10 

News 

A view from the top 

Ever wondered what it takes to 

become a quay crane operator? 

Well, it starts with a 24-day training 

schedule that includes theory, safety and 

on-the-job practical experience. 

Continuous assessment during the 

training period followed by a written test 

decides who will be selected to operate the 

giant waterfront cranes or the Rubber Tyred 

Gantry Cranes in the yard. 

“Our crane operators are given broad 

experience in handling all models of cranes at 

HIT during the training period,” said Lee Wing 

Chung, Superintendent, Terminal Operations. 

Such is the quality of the crane operator 

training in the yard, unmatched elsewhere, 

that the Hong Kong Government Labour 

Department has specially designated 

Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) as 

an approved centre for this course. 

“As an approved centre, we are 

authorised to train operators from outside 

HIT and upon the completion of the 

course, a list of licensed operators who 

passed our training programme will be 

submitted to the Labour Department 

where they maintain a record of all the 

certified cranes operators,” added Lee. 

This training also includes contractors from 

outside HIT who have no prior experience 

in handling the sophisticated machinery. 

It is a full-time job training and 

Cross-border rule relaxed 

China’s customs authorities have 

relaxed their cross border 

trucking rules, which would be 

greatly beneficial to shippers and trucking 

companies as their efficiency would be 

significantly improved. 

The old ‘four-up-four-down’ rule 

meant that driver, truck, chassis and 

container were considered one dutiable 

‘unit’ entering China from Hong Kong, 

and the same ‘unit’ had to return to 

Hong Kong complete, that is, in unit with 

the same registration details, in order to 


deploying staff to operate HIT’s quay 

cranes, numbering more than forty to date. 

In addition, there are also on-the-job 

re-training programmes in place for new 

crane deliveries. 

“We ensure that our operators are kept 

well-informed, and trained only by highly 

qualified and experienced instructors, if 

there are any changes to the control 

systems of new cranes,” said Lee. 

The quay cranes at HIT are an integral 

part of Hong Kong’s skyline and the 

operators handling these 1,400 tonne 

machines have to have two to three years 

experience in the yard before they are 

considered to operate the cranes. 

“After two to three years in the yard, 

we look for RTGC operators who have the 

temperament and capability to handle the 

quay cranes and they then undergo 

retraining before they move onto the 

waterfront,” said Lee. 

So the next time you look at the giant 

quay cranes, remember the training and 

dedication that the operators need to 

operate the machines seamlessly. It is a 

wonderful feeling to operate the cranes, 

and a beautiful view from the top. 

avoid customs’ duty. 

Now the rule has relaxed. It is no longer 

a requirement for a driver with a laden 

container commencing its journey from Hong 

Kong to China to return in the same chassis 

and empty container. Now, only the same 

driver and truck have to return to Hong Kong. 

This change of rule means that truck 

drivers should be able to complete more 

journeys in one day, speeding up the flow 

of goods across the border and helping to 

improve the utilisation of trucks and drivers 

and equipment. Lok Ma Chau Border Crossing (photo courtesy of PMB)

ings 

virtual one-stop-shop to HIT 

IE 

ShareRing 

Crystal 

Outlook HRMS 

Enterprise 

HRMS 

Enterprise 

Emails & 

Calendar 

Past 

Throughput 

Reports 

Entrepôt is an inhouse 

portal that 

allows users to 

access a wide range of 

information and data through 

an integrated system. 

Key features include individual web 

pages that enable the user to customise 

their own home portal page incorporating 

a simplified log-in. 

“The idea is that everyone saves time by 

having access to job and task relevant 

information as soon as they log on to their 

home page. Previously, staff would spend 

an enormous amount of time searching for 

the information they need and accessing 

individual websites and databases. Now 

multiple links are accessible on one computer 

screen,” said Dr. K. K. Lai, Project Manager 

of Operations Development Department. 

Word documents, emails, Excel 

spreadsheets, charts and web pages can 

now be accessed directly through Entrepôt. 

HR 

Information 

“Ultimately the portal 

will save staff time and 

improve productivity for 

staff at HIT” 

ShareRing 

There are a range of e-services which 

all come under the Entrepôt umbrella, 

which means that much of the workflow 

can be automated. 

“For instance, we are currently 

working with Human Resources to enable 

staff to check their leave entitlement 

through Entrepôt, saving staff time in 

making individual enquiries via email or 

phone. In other areas we are also 

incorporating the regional engineering 

databases to see if there are some 

synergies between Business Units 

regarding availability and deployment of 

information,” added K. K. 

There are also useful external sources 

of information that HIT users can 

incorporate into their portal page such as 

general market information about the 

shipping market. 

Emails & 

Calendar 

Entrepot 

Throughput 

Reports 

Present 

HR 

Information 

“We wanted to develop a portal that 

was an aggregator of both day-to-day 

functional information such as email, 

calendar, tasks that were Internet-enabled 

with a high level of security that ensured 

that access to specific web pages was 

predetermined through the system, on a 

need-to-know basis,” said K. K. 

The next phase was really to provide a 

platform that incorporates the shared 

access of information between Business 

Units, strategic information related 

to all aspects of yard management, 

procurement, inventory and commercial 

information about customers. 

“Entrepôt also allows researchers to 

trace the authors of documents so they can 

quickly get to the source of the information 

they need,” added K. K. 

Finally K. K. looked to the future 

and considered the next phases of 

development for Entrepôt: “Ultimately the 

portal will save staff time and improve 

productivity for staff at HIT, our next goal 

is to extend Entrepôt to the Business Units 

under Hutchison Port Holdings in 

Southern China, then to all its global 

Business Units.” 


11

12 

Events 

Record Turnout for HIT’s 

35th Anniversary Annual Dinner 

More than 60 percent of Hongkong International Terminal (HIT) staff, that is more than 1,000 people in 

numbers, turned up at the company’s Annual Dinner that was held at the Hongkong International Trade & 

Exhibition Centre on the evening of 24 February 2005. 

Marking the thirty-fifth anniversary of HIT, this event also featured an exhibition of photographs highlighting key 

events and milestones in the company’s history. The purpose of the exhibition was to enable new staff members to 

have an opportunity to learn more about the history of the company and its achievements. 

This event was made even more special with the attendance of three former senior managers, I. B. Kitchell, Clive 

Flegg and David Lewer. 

Guests were entertained throughout the night by a troupe of Indian drummers and dancers, a live band and group 

dancing, and left the night high in spirits. 

2005 South China Division (SCD) 

Management Seminar 

The annual HIT SCD Management Seminar 2005 was held on 20 & 

21 March in Macau this year, attended by more than 200 managers 

from the division. 

Mr. Eric Ip, Managing Director of HIT, kicked-off the seminar by 

giving an overview of the competitive environment of Southern China 

and providing an update on the new players in the industry. 

The focus of this year’s seminar is on “team building,” and several 

team activities were carried out to induce team spirits and generate cooperation 

among the members. Role-plays on selective market players 

were also carried out to enable participants to better understand the 

market situation and explore ways to react to unexpected changes in 

the marketplace. 

This year’s seminar was once again a huge success. 

HIT News, Spring 2005

Maiden 

Vessel Calls 

The M.V. MSC Maeva made its maiden call at HIT 

on 8 March 2005. The 8,089-TEU vessel originated from 

Chiwan and berthed at Kwai Chung for its onward 

voyage to Oakland, United States. 

Rugby Sevens 

More than fifty HIT staff and customers attended 

the Rugby Sevens 2005 that was held in Hong Kong 

over the third weekend of March. It was an exciting 

weekend that was full of adrenalin, as well as cheers 

and beers. Some were not so lucky though, who finished 

the games with a serious hangover! 

Visits 

Mexican Delegation 

HIT was delighted to receive a visit from Members of the 

Commission of Border Affairs of the Chamber of Senators 

of Mexico, Central Administrator of Customs Regulations 

of the Finance Ministry and the Consulate General of 

Mexico in Hong Kong on 26 January 2005. 

2005 Vice-Mayor of 

Xiamen Municipal 

Government and 

Delegation 

On 11 December 2004, a delegation comprising of senior 

officials from various Xiamen Government Bureaus and 

senior management of Xiamen-based companies visited HIT. 

Leading the delegation was Mr. Xu Mo, Vice-Mayor of 

Xiamen Municipal Government (fifth from right). 


14 

HIT People 

Looking at 

the changing face of HIT 

C. K. Poon, or better 

known to everyone 

as PCK, joined HIT 

in 1976 and has experienced 

some dramatic changes in yard 

operations and the industry as 

a whole. Now as Container 

Yard Operations Manager, he 

is surrounded by new 

technology, I.T. experts 

and is at the centre of 

HIT’s ongoing automation 

of yard operations. 

“The single biggest change in the last 

29 years is that there used to be many more 

workers in the yard, as we relied heavily on 

manual labour for our day-to-day 

operations in the seventies and eighties. 

Competitive pressure has led to many 

functions becoming automated and we 

now utilise technology more extensively.” 

“The next big change is the attitude of 

workers in the yard. In years gone by, many 

employees were happy to just do their work 

and return home. Now, there is a greater 

understanding that we are all working 

together to improve operations in order 

to benefit our customers,”said PCK. 

“Our staff now understand how HIT has 

to be more competitive and that everyone 

has a part to play in meeting our 

customers’ expectations. The company 

also provides adequate training to enable 

all staff members to improve in their jobs. 

Schemes like the Port Worker Development 


Programme have been very successful, and 

it has enabled yard operations staff to move 

into management positions,” he added. 

Safety and security have also become 

primary considerations in recent times. 

Twenty years ago, yard staff relied on luck 

as a more relaxed attitude prevailed in 

waterfront operations in Hong Kong. 

“Now protective equipment is 

mandatory in the yard, safety helmets have 

to be worn and training is provided to all 

workers to reduce the risk of accidents. It 

is a lot safer now than in the early days 

when we relied on sheer luck,” added PCK. 

Security has also been a major 

consideration in yard operations, 

particularly during the last two years, and 

now sophisticated scanning equipment 

has been installed at HIT to reduce the 

risk of dangerous materials passing 

through HIT (Please refer to article on “ICIS 

Scanning” on Page 6). 

“We have a very well-trained safety and 

security department that works very closely 

with government inspectors and the 

police. They have very strict guidelines for 

all staff and contractors which help to keep 

the yard safe and secure. This is also a 

dramatic improvement from the days 

when I first worked for HIT.” 

On a social side, PCK is also the Head 

of HIT Annual Dinner Committee, 

whereby he helped to oversee and 

organised this annual event that was 

attended by more than 1,000 HIT 

employees in Hong Kong. (Please refer 

to the feature on “HIT 35th Anniversary 

Annual Dinner” on Page 12) 

PCK has been married for 31 years and 

has two daughters, Lai-yie, 29 years old, 

and Lai-ting, 27, and a son Cheung-hei 

who is 23. During his leisure time, PCK 

enjoys his time as a mahjong maestro, 

karaoke singing and horse-racing.

End of Legal Battle for 

River Trade Terminal 

Hong Kong’s River Trade Terminal (RTT) 

lost a six-year legal fight, meaning that it 

can no longer service ships carrying trade 

outside the Pearl River Delta. The decision 

by the Court of Final Appeal could slash 

the RTT’s revenues by as much as 50%. 

Singapore Signed New 

Agreement With US 

Singapore has signed an agreement 

with the US that allows the deployment of 

equipment to detect potential “dirty 

bombs” being trafficked through its port. 

The US and Singapore governments signed 

a declaration of principles that will lead to 

what described as “state of the art 

equipment” being deployed at the Port of 

Singapore to detect hidden nuclear and 

radioactive materials in shipments. The 

republic will be the first country in 

Southeast Asia to use the detection system 

in co-operation with the US. 

Planned IPO from 

Panalpina Group 

The Panalpina Group is set to go public, 

despite abandoning the idea a few years 

ago. The company said preparations for 

the planned initial public offering were 

scheduled to take place during the next 

few months to enable Panalpina to enter 

the stock market in Europe this year. 

FESCO Launches 

New Service 

Russia-based Far Eastern Shipping 

Company (FESCO) has launched a new 

service between the port of Busan in Korea 

and Sakhalin Island, Russia with a regular call 

every 12 days to support increased trading 

between the two fast-growing regions. 

Known as FESCO Korea Sakhalin Line (FKSL), 

the service’s port rotation includes: Busan - 

Ulsan or Masan (on inducement) - Korsakov 

- Kholmsk - Busan. FKSL is utilising one MV 

Pioneer vessel to handle all types of 

shipments, including heavy lift, breakbulk, 

roll-on/roll-off, and containerloads for 

bilateral and transshipment cargo from 

North America, Europe and Asia. If demand 

for the service is strong, a second vessel will 

be deployed to provide a fixed-day weekly 

service, says the company. 

New Rate Restorations 

To Be Implemented 

Members of the South East Asia and 

South Asia / Australia Trade Facilitation 

Agreement plan to implement rate 

restorations next month and later in the 

year. From April 1, rates for shippers 

sending cargo from Singapore, Malaysia, 

Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Sri 

Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh to Australia 

are up by a minimum of $300 per TEU. 

Further hikes are expected in July and 

October. Member lines are: ANL 

Singapore, APL, Gold Star Line, Hanjin 

Shipping, HMM, K Line, Maersk Sealand, 

MISC, MOL, NYK Line, OOCL, P T Djakarta 

Lloyd, P&O Nedlloyd Limited, PIL and 

Regional Container Lines. 

Indian Government 

Committed to 

IWT Infrastructure 

The Indian government has made a 

commitment to improve the country’s Inland 

Water Transport (IWT) infrastructure. 

According to Minister of Shipping, Road 

Transport and Highways, Shri TR Baalu, 

priorities include: making the existing national 

waterways fully functional by providing the 

requisite infrastructure - terminals, 

navigational aids and so on; assisting IWT 

operators in acquiring suitable vessels 

through a vessel-building subsidy scheme; 

and encouraging private sector participation 

and public-private joint ventures. 

Asia Diary 

Drought Affects 

Thai - Laos Shipment 

Vessels transporting cargo between 

Loei in Thailand and the Luangprabang 

province of Laos stopped operating in 

February as this particular section of the 

Mekong River is drying up. According 

to Somchai Teeradamrongsak, deputy 

chief customs officer of the Chiang Khan 

checkpoint, Thai cross-border trade has 

ground to a virtual halt after seven 

months without rain. Cargo ships of 

between 100 and 200-tonne capacity 

could not make their regular journey 

between Thailand and Luangprabang, 

from where goods are normally 

distributed further inland in Laos. 

Vinpac Group Awarded 

Class A licence 

Hong Kong-based logistics company 

Vinpac Group has been awarded a Class- 

A licence for its branch office in Shanghai 

under the CEPA agreement. The Shanghai 

office is operating under the name 

of Vinpac Multitrans (China). Services 

include sea and air freight, land 

transportation, warehousing, 

transshipment, consolidated cargo, 

customs clearance, insurance, commercial 

inspections and transportation 

consultation in China. 

Many thanks to 


Community 

News 

Caring Company Award 


(HIT) has, for the second 

consecutive year, won the 

“Caring Company Award” that was 

presented by The Hong Kong Council 

of Social Service (HKCSS). The Caring 

Company Award scheme recognises 

companies that fulfill at least two criteria 

among the following: volunteerism, being 

family friendly, employing vulnerable 

segments, partnering with the social 

service sector, mentoring of social 

organisations and giving to the 

community. This latest win establishes 

HIT’s ongoing efforts as a good 


Chief Editor: Lily Chan 

Editor: Shirley Teo-Lam 

Writer: Russell Green - RTG Communications 

Graphic Designer: Derek Ying 

Terminal 4, Container Port Road South, 

Kwai Chung, Hong Kong 

Tel: (852) 2619 7557 Fax: (852) 2612 0083 

Email: gca@hit.com.hk 

www.hit.com.hk 


corporate citizen, and recognises the 

firm’s active involvement and contribution 

to the community. 

Tsunami Relief 

Last Christmas should be a joy for all, but there was much heartache in 

Asia as a result of the Asia earthquake and tsunami. To help ease the 

sufferings and re-build the homelands for those affected, Hutchison 

Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Li Ka Shing Foundation have generously donated 

a total of HK$24 million specifically to this cause. 

Published by: 


A member of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group 

"HIT News" is a quarterly publication by 

Hongkong International Terminals and is 

intended only as an informative journal on 

the company's business activities and 

issues related to the industry. No part of 

this magazine may be reproduced without the 

written permission of Hongkong International 

Terminals. All rights reserved. 

The port operations of 

Hutchison Whampoa Limited

goes live nGen goes live nGen - Hongkong International Terminals

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