- Hong Kong taps into sea service to carry fresh food supplies from mainland after trucking disruption
- Three daily feeder services supporting waterway cargo supplies to Hong Kong: Yantian to Kwai Tsing Terminals; Dachan Bay to Kwai Tsing; and Mawan Terminal to Hong Kong River Trade Terminal
- Specific green channels for ships and trailers set up set up for cross-border shipping between Shenzhen and Hong Kong
Vegetables, fruits and other daily food necessities are now being shipped from China to Hong Kong by a newly launched sea service to stabilize food supply in the city as the coronavirus contagion disrupted delivery by trucks.
The “Sea Express” service was launched after Hong Kong’s Task Force of Supplies from the Mainland worked closely with officials of Guangdong province and Shenzhen to explore various means to stabilise the food supply in Hong Kong, the Government Information Service reported.
There are at least three daily feeder services supporting waterway cargo supplies. These are Yantian International Container Terminals to Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, from Dachan Bay Terminals to KTCT; and from Shenzhen Mawan Container Terminal to Hong Kong River Trade Terminal.
Yantian, Dachan Bay and Mawan terminals transported more than 300 twenty-foot equivalent units with about 2,000 tons of supplies to Hong Kong on February 24, among which more than 30 TEUs were fresh food and over 280 TEUs were non-fresh food, said GIS, citing official mainland data.
Since the launch of the services, about 1,200 TEUs, with over 7,500 tons of cargo, have been shipped to Hong Kong from the three terminals, among which around 100 TEUs contained about 900 tons of fresh food and about 1,100 TEUs with over 6,600 tons of non-fresh food.
GIS said the Chinese authorities have set up specific green channels for ships and trailers, giving priority to safeguarding the green channels for cross-boundary shipping between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Dedicated berths, support equipment and yard facilities have been assigned to ensure that ships carrying cross-boundary goods have priority for berthing operations. More routes are expected to be launched shortly to supply more types of goods from Guangdong and Shenzhen to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is working with Shenzhen to study the feasibility of transporting goods by rail. The Transport and Housing Bureau, the MTR Corp and relevant government departments visited a site in Lo Wu on Friday. They will meet with Mainland officials to arrange trial runs as soon as possible, GIS said.
Meanwhile, fresh meat vendors closed their shops on Friday after the Food, Environment and Health Department said the Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan slaughterhouses will suspend operations from midnight for cleaning and disinfection after 183 workers, buyers and importers’ staff tested positive for Covid-19.
The government is talking with the Mainland to deploy professional and experienced personnel to Hong Kong to assist in the resumption of local fresh meat supply as soon as possible, with a view to safeguarding the fresh food supply to Hong Kong. The government has requested meat providers and agents, depending on actual demand, to increase the import of chilled meat to ensure the supply.
