Marine Department, Hong Kong SAR - HKU Libraries - The ...

international shipping
China Navigation always delivers a quality service, with its 12 vessels
offering both charter and liner operations to South East Asia
and the Pacific.
The Council also publishes the
bimonthly, bilingual magazine
Shippers Today, which is distributed
to freight forwarders, shipping
lines, airlines and transportation
companies in Hong Kong, China
and overseas.
The main membership of the
organisation is based on 15 major
trade and industry associations,
while there are also around 50
individual companies that have
chosen to support the HKSC by
seeking associate membership.
Issues of concern, which the
Council aims to address this year,
include the ongoing debate regarding
the level of terminal handling
charges (THCs) imposed upon
shippers by the shipping lines, and
the higher cost of using the new
Hong Kong International Airport at
Chep Lap Kok compared to Kai Tak.
In recent years, the Council has
also been lifting its relationship with
the People's Republic of China. "We
have been trying to work closely
with the Chinese authorities
responsible for the transportation of
goods because this is an important
issue for Hong Kong shippers/' Mr
Yeung said. "And although the Hong
Kong Port is very efficient, it is not
very cheap, so we take it upon
ourselves to keep shippers informed
of the developments in the Chinese
ports, especially those across the
border in Shenzhen," he added.
China Navigation
CHINA Navigation Co. (CNCo) Ltd,
the deep sea flag carrier of the
multi-faceted Swire Group, boasts a
fleet of 12 Hong Kong registered
vessels utilised on both liner and
charter services across south east
Asia and the Pacific region.
The vessels, which make up
75 percent of its 1 6 ship fleet,
include regular Hong Kong Port
callers the 500-TEU capacity
container vessel Poyang and
1 5,500 dwt container/ro-ro carrier
Pacific Islander.
The Pacific Islander, capable of
accommodating 446 TEUs and nearly
600 vehicles, calls at Hong Kong as
part of CNCo's twice monthly Greater
Bali Hai liner service, connecting
Hong Kong, Japan and Korea with 11
south Pacific islands including Fiji,
Tahiti, Western Samoa and the
Cook Islands. The 9,744 dwt Poyang
calls at the port about once every
three weeks as it carries out timecharter
operations between Japan,
China and Taiwan.
The average age of the CNCo's
fleet is just eight years, with the
163,000 dwt Capesize bulker,
Erradale, representing the largest dry
cargo vessel built at a UK yard.
In addition, CNCo jointly owns
four deep-sea container vessels with
P&O Nedlloyd and three feeder-size
container ships with Korea's Dong
Young Shipping.
Founded in 1872, CNCo uses its
fleet to provide liner services to 72
ports in the south Pacific region and
container and bulk operations
worldwide on a charter basis.
General Manager Fleet, Captain
Duncan Telfer, said: "In global terms
we are small compared to other
shipping lines but our priority is
quality service not size. The
importance of Hong Kong to
China Navigation is reflected in
the fact that our worldwide
shipping headquarters is still based
here despite just a few dozen port
calls a year."
CNCo managed liner operations
include Chief Container Service
(Australia-South Pacific), New
Guinea Pacific Line (South East Asia-
South Pacific-Australia), and the
Greater Bali Hai (North and East
Asia-Pacific Islands).
Regular cargoes carried by CNCo
vessels, currently handling around
100,000 TEUs yearly, include
everything from bags of rice,
condensed milk, coffee, cocoa
and copra to copper ore and
other metals.
Other Hong Kong companies
which are 100 percent owned or
jointly owned by the Swire Group
include Cathay Pacific Airways,
Hong Kong United Dockyards
(HUD) and Modern Terminals
Limited (MTL).
OOCL
ORIENT Overseas Container Line
(OOCL), handling over 1.6 million
TEUs in Hong Kong each year,