Hong Kong: Redolent of the changing trading patterns of cargoes calling at the Special Administrative Region, the territory needs to convert some berths for barge use, according to one of the city’s top port executives.
Speaking at the JOC-organised TPM Asia in Shenzhen yesterday, Gerry Yim, ceo, HPH Trust and managing director of Hongkong International Terminals, said that he was in discussions with the local government about converting some non-mega vessel berths at Kwai Chung into barge berths. He was also adamant that the terminals needed more back up land.
“The Hong Kong government needs to give more support to the shipping/logistics industry,” Yim said.
Hong Kong is set to slip behind Shenzhen this year into fourth place in the global boxport rankings, having relinquished top spot back in 2005. These days, much of the port’s throughput comes from transhipment.
Mentioning the strikes that crippled his Hong Kong terminals earlier this year, Yim said: “People is a problem that is not going to go away, but we need them.” He said there was a lack of people in south China, not just Hong Kong, who want to go into the industry. “We want more labour than is available today,” Yim said, noting how the average age of truck drivers in Hong Kong had now surpassed 50. [17/10/13]
