Pearl River Estuary News

The number of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins seen around Hong Kong has jumped as the pause in high-speed ferry traffic due to the coronavirus allows the threatened species to make something of a comeback, scientists said.Marine scientist Lindsay Porter of the University of St. Andrews said the mammals - also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins - were moving back into parts of the Pearl River Delta that they typically avoided due to the ferries that connect Hong Kong and Macau.Dolphin numbers in the area had jumped by up to 30% since March when the ferry traffic was suspended…

Hong Kong's port expects a slight rise in container shipping volumes this year despite continuing global turmoil in the sector. The global container industry, which transports everything from bananas to iPhones, is showing signs of better returns after a near-decade long slump. Nevertheless, worries over global retail demand and too many ships have continued to put the brakes on a bigger recovery. Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing, Frank Chan Fan, said container throughput was expected to increase slightly this year from 19.8 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in 2016 and 20 million TEUs in 2015. "This year it is going up by a single digit percentage…

Destructive winds, waves batter Hong Kong, south China. Typhoon Hato, a maximum category 10 storm, slammed into Hong Kong on Wednesday lashing the Asian financial hub with wind and rain that uprooted trees and forced most businesses to close, while in some places big waves flooded seaside streets. There were reports of 34 people injured in Hong Kong while in the city of Macau, across the Pearl River estuary, three people were killed, authorities there said. In Hong Kong, more than 450 flights were cancelled, financial markets suspended and schools closed as Hato bore down, the first category 10 storm to hit the city since 2012. "I've never seen one like this," Garrett Quigley, a longtime resident of Lantau island to the west of the city, said of the storm.

Hong Kong stepped up efforts on Wednesday to clean up a massive palm oil spill, with authorities scooping up more than 90 tonnes of foul-smelling, styrofoam-like clumps in one of the worst environmental disasters to blight the territory's waters. Dead fish, shells, rocks, plastic bottles and other rubbish could still be found coated with globules of palm oil on beaches across the Chinese-controlled territory six days after the spill caused after two vessels collided in the Pearl River estuary. The government said it had scooped up 93 tonnes of oil waste, most of it congealed, and the amount left floating on the sea surface had fallen significantly.

Standby Signal No.1 is in force in Hong Kong, in anticipation of the possible impact of Severe Tropical Storm Linfa, GAC reported in its Hot Port News bulletin. Linfa was estimated to be about 460 kilometers east of Hong Kong and forecast to move north slowly at first, then take a more westerly track later in the general direction of the eastern coast of Guangdong, according to the latest Tropical Cyclone Bulletin issued by the Hong Kong Observatory at 5 p.m. local time, July 8. The present forecast track projects Linfa will edge closer to the Pearl River Estuary tomorrow. The Observatory will consider issuing the Strong Wind Signal No.3 tomorrow morning as winds will strengthen gradually with squally showers tomorrow afternoon.

While much of the focus on coverage of the Chinese shipbuilding industry is on big shipbuilding, Maritime Reporter switches gears this month to explore activities in select boatbuilding sectors. The Damen boatbuilding name is ubiquitous around the world, and China is certainly no exeception. The Damen Yichang Shipyard in China started ops in 1999 as a JV between Damen Shipyards Group and Sinotrans CSC, focused on building cargo vessels from the Dutch company’s portfolio. Recently Damen said it intends to broaden the market audience courtesy of an increased portfolio of vessels from the yard…

COSCO Kansai Paint & Chemicals win the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority’s coatings contract for the 38-km long Pearl River estuary bridge. The vast bridge in the South China Sea will form a fixed crossing over the Pearl River Estuary between Zhuhai and Macau on the western side and Hong Kong on the eastern side. The 29.6km main section is in Zhuhai waters and comprises 22.8km of bridge work including three cablestayed bridges with spans ranging from 280m to 460m, viaducts spanning 75m and 110m, a 6km tunnel and two artificial islands.

Chevron Corporation's China subsidiary signs production sharing contracts for exploration blocks in the Pearl River Estuary, South China Sea. Chevron's agreement is with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Under the PSC agreements, Chevron China Energy Company will hold a 100 percent interest in blocks 15/10 and 15/28 in the Pearl River Mouth Basin. During the exploration phase Chevron China Energy Company will be the operator of the two shallow water blocks, which in total cover an area of approximately 2,233 square miles (5,782 square km). “Exploration of these blocks builds on our strategy to grow our business across the Asia Pacific region, where we are developing LNG, deepwater, shale and sour gas resources,” said George Kirkland, vice chairman, Chevron Corporation.

CNOOC Limited announce that Panyu 4-2/5-1 & Liuhua 4-1 oil fields in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea, start production. Panyu 4-2/5-1 oil field has an average water depth of about 100 meters and an adjustment project has been designed to share the existing facilities to develop this oil field more effectively,  and it is expected to hit its peak production in 2014. The Company holds 75.5% interest and acts as the operator of Panyu 4-2/5-1 oil field; its other partner, Burlington Resources China holds the remaining 24.5% interest. Liuhua 4-1 oil field has an average water depth of about 268 meters. In view of the features of the oil field, the Company built a new subsea production system while sharing the surrounding facilities for overall development.

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) will invest $12.5b in gas and oil exploration in the next five years, CRI reported. By 2010, more than 50 new gas and oil fields of CNOOC Limited will be completed and put into production. The new fields, 24 of which are under construction and 13 under development assessment, are mainly located in East China's Bohai Sea, the Pearl River estuary and the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea. By 2010, CNOOC Limited will have a production capacity of 50 million tons of oil equivalent, including 38 million tons of crude oil and 12.6 billion cubic meters of gas. (Source: CRI)

dramatically increased with the delivery last February 28 of a powerful new firefighting boat. is 38.5-metres long with a 7.8-metre beam and a 3.4-metre molded depth. a pair of Cummins KTA38-M2 engines delivering 1044 KW (1400 HP) at 1950 RPM. Cummins KTA38-M2 engines producing 1350 HP at 1900 RPM. model D-67225 pumps. range and the foam monitors a 50-metre range. generator sets. A 60 Kw bow thruster enhances the vessel’s twin prop manoeuverability. The boat is operated by the Zhuhai Fire-Fighting Bureau. Zhuhai area with its 650,000 permanent residents and total population of 1.3 million people. free trade zone, the area contains a lot of factories visiting workers. firefighters.