Asia/Pacific News
Hong Kong: Shenzhen and Guangzhou Cooperating on Competition Issues Caused by ECA Rules
Simon Ng, chief research officer at think tank Civic Exchange, says concerns for Hong Kong's competitiveness against other regional ports in the face of new emissions regulations for ships is being addressed through cooperation with the ports of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, local media reports.
"Hong Kong is working with Shenzhen and Guangzhou so we don't have to deal with the competitiveness," says Ng.
"So far it's very positive, Shenzhen is willing to subsidise the shipping trade, to clean up. Things are moving a lot quicker now."
The local government has also extended a financial incentive scheme to help shipping companies recover the cost of using the cleaner fuel in Hong Kong.
"Everyone is very excited to talk about the new regulations," adds Ng.
"10 years ago the government wasn't doing anything on ship emissions. Even the public wouldn't have known what bunker fuel was.
"We didn't know how to plan, or whether to assume the port would continue to be a big part of HK's economy.
"Our prelim research showed that Europe and the U.S. were targeting the shipping industry and that's when we started wondering why we weren't doing anything about it here. Ship emissions impact the air quality a lot."
In June, Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department (EPD) announced it is accepting applications for its extended at-berth fuel switching incentive scheme, and that additional fuels and technologies will now qualify under the programme.
