HK Port To Shut Down For Y2K Inspections

Hong Kong will halt operations at its container terminals and check whether ships calling at its port are ready for the Y2K computer bug in the hours straddling the New Year, a top port official said. Hong Kong terminals will stop working on container ships for about four hours starting at 10 p.m. on Dec. 31 (1400 GMT) and for an hour from 8 a.m. on Jan. 1 (0000 GMT), when the year 2000 begins on Greenwich Mean Time. "At that time, they don't want to be working on ships, they want to go around checking on all the equipment and systems that they've got to make sure nothing's gone wrong," Roger Tupper, deputy secretary of the Hong Kong Port and Maritime Board, said. Port masters will redirect incoming vessels to anchorages if their Y2K status is doubtful, starting from the late afternoon of Dec. 31, "effectively making sure that channels are kept clear," Tupper said. The Y2K issue is particularly crucial for Hong Kong's port. One of the world's busiest shipping centers, some 1,300 ships ply Hong Kong's port on an average day. In 1998, it handled 14.6 million teu. All its eight container terminals and other infrastructure were Y2K ready by June this year, and contingency tests were conducted with no major problems in August and September. Tupper said the port's four private terminal operators had arranged to take on additional container loads if problems, such as congestions, should happen with any of them. In case of major breakdowns, for example due to power failure, operators will revert to manual systems and rely on diesel-run machines. "I reckon they could operate about 25 percent of capacity in the event of a major problem," he said. Container vessels could also be diverted to the "midstream," where offshore barges fitted with cranes would help with loading. "Of course the midstream is not Y2K sensitive," Tupper said. Hong Kong's midstream operations handle three million teu each year, 18 percent of total container throughput. Tupper did not expect major problems at ports such as Yantian, Chiwan and Shekou in southern China because they are handled by the same league of terminal operators as in Hong Kong. "We know basically what their (Y2K) statuses are...even if there were difficulties, the ships will just come to Hong Kong and do their transfers here," Tupper said. Should that happen, containers and other cargo would be transferred later to the mainland by barge or by land, he said. Ships on international routes have to pass Hong Kong before going to the Chinese ports of Shekou and Yantian. Diversion of container ships from mainland China to Hong Kong was not expected to cause problems for the territory, as some handling capacity would be freed up in Hong Kong due to seasonal slowdown in year-end shipping movements. In December 1998, Hong Kong terminals handled 795,000 teu, down from 870,000 teu in August that year. - (Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters)