Heavyweight: The 109,000-tonne Searanger oil tanker is now registered in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Shipping Register has continued to attract quality ships in 2008, with the total gross tonnage of Hong Kong-registered ships now approaching 40 million gross tonnes, making the register among the world's top five.

The register will have more than 1,360 ships with more than 39.86 million gross tonnes in total following the registration of a new oil tanker Searanger - which can carry more than 109,000 tonnes.

The Searanger is about 243m long, 42m wide, and about 22m deep. It has been chartered to the French oil major Total Oil for the next five years for worldwide operation and will carry a crew of about 38.

Noting more than 90% of the world trade is forecast to be carried by sea, Director of Marine Roger Tupper believed Hong Kong will continue to serve as a vibrant international maritime hub, with shipping playing a major role in local economies.

He said the future growth of Asian economies underlines the importance of growing trading hubs like Hong Kong in the world economy.