The Government has proposed streamlining the application procedure for river trade vessels to enter Hong Kong waters and reduce the charges for port facilities to attract more cargo business to Hong Kong.

With the support of the trade, it has put forward five proposals to enhance the competitiveness of the port and maritime industries.

It proposes to:

* streamline the application procedure for river trade vessels to enter Hong Kong waters and lower the permit cost by introducing a multiple-entry permit;

* reduce port facilities and light dues for ocean-going vessels and licence fees for local vessels;

* expand mid-stream cargo handling capacity by establishing new anchorages;

* lower anchorage charges for ocean-going vessels; and

* introduce annual tonnage charge waver for Hong Kong-registered vessels.

In a paper to the Legislative Council Panel on Economic Services, the Economic Development & Labour Bureau said there are about 117,500 river trade vessels visiting Hong Kong bringing about 3.5 million TEUs to, and about 3 million TEUs out of, Hong Kong last year.

They handled a total of about 6.5 million TEU or 29.6% of the total container throughput in 2004.

Multiple-entry permit proposed for river trade, also

To enhance the efficiency and attractiveness of river trade cargoes to by river trade vessels, the bureau proposes streamlining the application procedure and lowering the permit cost by introducing a multiple-entry permit.

The proposed multiple-entry permit allows river trade vessels a maximum of 10 visits to Hong Kong within a period of one month with a maximum stay of two days each visit.

Based on Marine Department statistics, about 50% of river trade vessels visit Hong Kong five or more times each month. They would benefit from the new multiple-entry permit.

To enhance port competitiveness, the Government proposes reducing the port facilities and light dues for ocean-going vessels by about 5%, from $57 per 100 tonnes to $54 per 100 tonnes.

It also proposes to reduce the licence fees for local vessels by 5% when the revised charging basis under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance is implemented.

Anchorage dues to be lowered

To attract more ocean-going vessels calling at Hong Kong, particularly Intra-Asia vessels with trans-shipment, the bureau proposes lowering the anchorage due paid by liner shipping companies.

This would reduce the cost of intra-Asia vessels calling Hong Kong for direct / trans-shipment cargo and would help the mid-stream industry.

Hong Kong now charges daily anchorage dues of $69 and $47 per 100 tonnes per day for waters within and outside the harbour limits with the first day (or part thereof) free and a midnight cut-off time.

The bureau proposes charging the ocean-going vessels on an hourly basis counting from the time of their arrival but with a free period for the first 12 hours and at a tonnage charge of $0.02 per tonne ($2 per 100 tonnes) and $0.015 per tonne ($1.5 per 100 tonnes) per subsequent hours for waters within and outside the harbour limits.

This proposal would encourage quicker turnaround to alleviate congestion in the Hong Kong harbour and encourage more frequent calls by intra-Asia vessels at Hong Kong.

Proposals could cost $60m in lost revenue

The proposed measures are estimated to cause an annual revenue loss of $60.9 million.

As identified in the study on Hong Kong Port - Master Plan 2020 commissioned by the Government, every tonne of direct containerised cargo using Hong Kong Port services will generate an economic benefit of $193 and every tonne of containerised trans-shipment cargo $135.

Assuming a river trade vessel visits Hong Kong one more time each month carrying a few containers, the economic benefit will outweigh the total cost for the multiple-entry permit while the industry and government could also achieve savings on administrative work.

The bureau will table the draft fee regulation and amendment regulations in the Legislative Council in October/November for negative vetting with commencement at the end this year/early next year.