Marine Department (Hong Kong)

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Marine Department
海事處
Agency overview
HeadquartersHarbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong
Employees1,484
Annual budgetHK$1623.3m (2019–20)
Agency executive
  • Carol Yuen (袁小惠), Director of Marine
Websitewww.mardep.gov.hk
Marine Department
Harbour Building, which has the agency's head office
Traditional Chinese海事處
Simplified Chinese海事处
JyutpingHoi2 si6 cyu3
Cantonese YaleHói sih chyu
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHǎishìchù
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHói sih chyu
JyutpingHoi2 si6 cyu3

The Marine Department of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for maintaining the safety and environmental protection of the Port of Hong Kong, tracking registered foreign ships, monitoring shipping traffic in Hong Kong waters, and launching search and rescue operations in the South China Sea.

The department's head office is in the Harbour Building in Central, Hong Kong.[1] The department also conducts investigations of marine accidents.[2]

The department is led by the Director of Marine, Carol Yuen (袁小惠),[3] who reports to the Secretary for Transport and Housing.

The Marine Department is also responsible for coordinating the following operations in the waters around Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is a major cargo port—in 2000, it processed 175 million tonnes of cargo and 18.1 million TEU. The Marine Department is also the port authority of the territory.

Facilities

History

The Marine Department, called the Harbour Department in the early days, oversees harbour affairs and manages various aviation activities. The Marine Department was under the Economic Service Branch before 1997, and the Economic Development and Labour Bureau before 2007. The Marine Department has been part of the Transport and Housing Bureau since 1 July, 2007.

Reform

On 19 April, 2013, the Lamma Island Accident Investigation Board submitted a 238-page report about the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision to the Hong Kong Government. On 30 April, 2013, the chief executive, Leung Chun Ying, announced the report of the Lamma Island accident and noted that the report analyzed the causes of the collision, the vessel's quick submersion, and serious injuries. He also admitted that the department was not monitoring vessels efficiently, and that year, improving that system would be a priority.[4] He said that he has instructed the Transport and Housing Bureau and the Marine Department to adopt the contents of the report in order to improve maritime safety in Hong Kong. In addition, if officials involved were found culpable for human error and misconduct, the Hong Kong government would strictly deal with the problem, including disciplinary hearings.[5]

On the same day, the Secretary for Transport and Housing Authority announced the establishment of the Marine Department Reform Steering Committee, chaired by him. Later, he announced two appointees, former Ombudsman Alice Tai and Arts Development Advisory Commissioner Koo, who would both term two years. He said the Hong Kong government will learn its lesson, and the committee will conduct a comprehensive review of the system of the Marine Department, including management, licensing regulatory, enforcement and inspections, and other matters, and launch a reform program timetable.[6][7] In addition, he said that the Steering Committee has obtained the consent of CSB to send a Grade B officer to become the deputy director of Marine, a personal assistant,[8] and two additional assistant directors.[9] The Marine Department would invite international experts to advise on their next steps.[10] Director of Marine Liaohan Bo said the Marine Department would cooperate with reforms, including the establishment of the Executive Team to coordinate inspection affairs.[11]

On 21 May, 2013, the Steering Committee held its first meeting about the Marine Department,[12] focusing on three points: reviewing the regulation of passenger safety and inspections of Hong Kong vessels, reforming those plans and monitoring them; reorganizing the operations management processes, operating procedures and oversight structure, in order to strengthen internal control; and solving personnel shortages in the department, developing new training programs. The commission agreed to hold a meeting every two weeks. Reform would be divided into two phases; the first phase involved inspecting then-current processes and procedures in the hope that within 4-6 months upgraded plans could be devised and implemented, followed by a deep reform of the Marine Department with a comprehensive review.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Contact Us Archived 2012-01-03 at the Wayback Machine." Marine Department. Retrieved on 16 January 2012. "Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong" – Traditional Chinese address Archived 2012-01-29 at the Wayback Machine: "香港中環統一碼頭道38號海港政府大樓", Simplified Chinese address Archived 2012-01-20 at the Wayback Machine: "香港中环统一码头道38号海港政府大楼"
  2. ^ "Types of Marine Accident Investigation Carried out by Marine Department Archived 2012-04-30 at the Wayback Machine." Marine Department. Retrieved on 16 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Welcome Message". Marine Department. Retrieved 2023-08-07. – Chinese name at the Traditional Chinese page
  4. ^ Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced findings shipwreck行政長官梁振英公布海難調查結果[permanent dead link‍] 《星島日報》 2013年4月30日
  5. ^ Lamma report released fireworks stop南丫報告出爐 停國慶煙花 Archived 2013-05-03 at the Wayback Machine 《明報》 2013年4月30日
  6. ^ ANTHONY: personally supervise the reform of Marine張炳良：親自督促改革海事處[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ Anthony: If anyone misconduct and dereliction of duty will be handled according to law張炳良：若有人行為失當和失職將依法處理[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ Collision Accident Commission provided 13 recommendations promise to reform撞船事故委員會提13項建議　政府承諾改革[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Administrative Officer appointed Deputy Director of Marine Doc reform政務官任海事處副處長督改革[permanent dead link‍] 《星島日報》 2013年4月30日
  10. ^ Marine Department Government Reform Committee set up政府成立海事處改革委員會 Archived 2013-06-30 at archive.today 《明報》 2013年4月30日
  11. ^ Marine Department will cooperate fully with the reform海事處將全面配合改革 Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine 《明報》 2013年4月30日
  12. ^ Reform of the system in two years criticized the Marine海事制度改革需兩年捱批 Archived 2013-06-30 at archive.today 《明報》 2013年5月3日
  13. ^ Maritime Reform Steering Committee to determine the terms of reference海事改革督導委員會確定職權[permanent dead link‍] 《星島日報》 2013年5月21日

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marine Department (Hong Kong).