The water depth at the Kwai Chung Container Port is found to be adequate to meet the navigational needs of any containership.

This finding was revealed from the results of a survey on the drafts of container vessels calling at Hong Kong. The survey was discussed at the latest meeting of the Port Development Committee.

Members noted that the survey was aimed at keeping track of future depth requirements at the Kwai Chung Container Port by obtaining a clearer picture of the arrival and departure drafts of vessels during their calls at Hong Kong in order to plan ahead for the future requirements. It revealed that the deepest summer draft of containerships currently calling at Hong Kong was 14.5 metres. As the Kwai Chung Basin will be dredged down to 15.5 metres, Hong Kong will be able to meet the navigational needs of future containerships that will come on stream within the next few years.

The Port Development Committee also supported that the Board should continue to collect more draft data to monitor  

the trend of vessel drafts and conduct a regular benchmarking exercise to monitor the water depths of other major container ports around the world.

In a related development, the Committee also learned about the findings of another study on the future trend of containerships and its potential impact on the Port of Hong Kong.

Conducted by the Marine Department, the study is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the development in the size of container vessels so as to identify measures to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness as the world's leading container port.

The Committee members recognised that as the world of container shipping is changing rapidly with larger containerships coming on stream, it is imperative for Hong Kong to appreciate the development of container vessels to ensure its infrastructure and facilities are able to receive the future generation of mega-containerships.

The study found that the sizes of containerships are projected to increase gradually in the coming decade and the growth in sizes is  

mainly associated with the water depth of ports and the outreach of container cranes. It also revealed that Hong Kong is currently ahead of many other large container ports in terms of productivity and turn around time in serving the latest generation of large containerships.

It concluded that the trend for larger container vessels would continue with ships with 10,000 to 12,000 TEUs that may come on stream in future years. Even with this possible growth in size, Hong Kong is capable of receiving such vessels in terms of quay length. It also concluded that the current alongside water depths at Kwai Chung are adequate to meet the navigational requirements of large containerships currently in service as well as those expected to come into operation within the next few years as the Kwai Chung Port will have a water depth of 15.5 metres in the approach channels and alongside berth.

It also noted that the vessel safety system be improved and upgraded to ensure safe and efficient passage of the next generation of containerships visiting Hong Kong and this study be updated at a reasonable interval to help keep abreast of the latest trends in container shipping.