The event received support from Kwai Tsing District Council and The Warehouse Teenage Club for co-organising the event; and CMA CGM (Hong Kong) Limited and T. S. Lines Ltd. for sponsoring the containers, which gave the participants an unforgettable graffiti art experience.

HIT together with around 30 elderly from South Kawi Chung Social Service and teen volunteers painted a wall at Yeung King House of Lai King Estate, adding a colourful look to Lai King Estate.  Held on 12 November, this graffiti project was jointly organised by HIT, Housing Department Lai King Estate Office and South Kawi Chung Social Service which not only beautifies the environment of Lai King Estate but also helps promote inter-generational harmony in the local community.  Participated volunteers also included teenagers from HKSYC & IA Chan Nam Chong Memorial College and ChickenSoup Foundation.

HIT recently organised a Clean Terminal Campaign which included a series of activities such as slogan competition, keep clean competition for external contractor offices, plastic bottles and aluminium cans recycling, and onsite inspection.  The Campaign is well received by both staff members and external contractor workers.  Around 360kg of waste was reduced and over 4,000 plastic bottles and aluminium cans were recycled in October.  Besides, HIT organised a charity sales of second-hand goods donated by staff members for promoting the awareness of recycling on 11 November and the proceeds collected will be donated to Yan Chai Hospital.

Around 1,200 staff attended 3 town hall talks held between Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT) management and staff members today (1 August).  At the meetings, Mr. Gerry Yim shared the company’s business strategy and challenges in 2016 as well as green, safety and health initiatives.  Mr. Yim also highlighted that notable safety improvements were recorded in the first half of 2016, with a drop of 10% and 20% in accident rate and injury rate respectively.  Accidents involved stevedoring also recorded a significant decline of 70%.

Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT)’s Engineering Apprentice, Tang Siu Hin, has been selected as one of the 10 awardees of Most Improved Trainees under the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP) 2016 organised by the Labour Department.  The award is to recognise YETP trainees’ significant improvements in personal growth, leadership skills or working performance.  Tang Siu Hin joined HIT in May 2014 and is undergoing a 4-year Apprenticeship Scheme, in which both theoretical and practical training as well as rotation opportunities in different sections are provided for developing his all-round and professional technical skills.  HIT is keen to nurture future talents for the port industry by offering students various training and placement opportunities.

In response to suggestions expressed by external contractor workers on better meal arrangements in the company’s recent survey, HIT has decided to open the staff canteen to non-HIT staff (including external contractor workers and visitors), with the exception of two busy time slots (0730 – 0830 in the morning and 1245 – 1315 in the afternoon during Monday to Friday).  The HIT staff canteen opens 21-hours daily (closed between 0300am – 0600am), and offers Chinese and Western cuisine, and fast food. 

HIT has put into operation two new barge cranes, the first of their kind in southern China, as part of an ongoing effort to enhance productivity and increase competitiveness. The new barge cranes have greater handling stability when compared with traditional jib cranes, this will help enhance Hong Kong’s capability in handling barges from the Pearl River Delta.

Caption:  Two barge quay cranes are simultaneously handling a barge in order to speed up the turnaround time.

HIT will commence discussions with external contractors concerning their service contracts over the next two months. It will listen to the workers’ views, as well as taking into consideration of a number of factors including inflation, state of business and economic environment. HIT will also introduce in the second quarter an incentive programme that is linked to occupational safety and productivity. The programme will be extended to external contractor workers after a pilot period. The aim is to reward safe and productive operation, and to share the results with workers. HIT also promised that the extent of the pay increase would be at least matching the rate of inflation over the past twelve months. It is expected the overall income, including the incentive reward, will have a material increase. External contractors will announce details of pay increase sometime in May after their discussions with the workers. The maritime industry is of the view that provision of a stable and reliable service will enable Hong Kong to cope with increasing competition from container terminals in southern China and benefit Hong Kong logistics industry’s sustainable development.

2013 was a volatile year for the container port industry in Hong Kong and Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT) was also impacted; nonetheless, staff received general salary increments in line with inflation.  Senior management, however, had their salaries frozen for the second year and bonuses were reduced in line with the fall in throughput.  The port of Hong Kong will continue to face challenges in 2014 as major shipping lines adjust their alliance arrangements and phase in new mega-vessels.