Technical Visit to the Government Dockyard and Training Centre of the Marine Department

By Ir Dr. Irene Poon

The Logistics and Transportation Division organized a technical visit to the government dockyard (GD) and the training centre of Marine Department on 31 August afternoon.  The visit was divided into three sessions and was led by Mr Lee Kwok Wai, Senior Surveyor of Ships/Maintenance and Support, Mr Lau Yau Wah, Ben, Senior Surveyor of Ships in Government New Construction Section (GNC) and Mr Tse Wing Chung, Senior Marine Officer of the Training Centre.  This was a valuable chance for our participants to understand the operations of both GNC and Ships Maintenance and Support sections.

During the first part of the visit, Mr Tse introduced the courses held by the Training Centre and various computer based simulation equipment installed.  The trainers would create various scenarios to simulate normal traffic condition as well as certain emergency situations to meet different training objectives through the simulators.  Mr Lau briefed our members the role of GNC and explained the procedures of design and procurement of new vessels.  The whole process includes design, tendering, contract award, vessel construction supervision, testing, trials and acceptance and some projects may be maintained up to several years.  Besides, GD serves as a maintenance base for more than 900 operational vessels of different types and sizes.  The maintenance service is mainly performed by private contractors in the GD.   

As regards the second part of the visit, the participants were divided into four teams and went for the trial of ship simulators and Vessel Traffic Service simulator in different training rooms.  They all enjoyed this part of the visit very much.  

The third part was led by Mr Lee, in which the participants gained an in-depth understanding of the various lifting equipment adopted in the dockyard, including SyncroLift 750 tonnes, Travel Hoists 35/63/200 tonnes, Crawler crane and Mobile cranes.  The visit ended with a closing ceremony in which representatives from the Logistics and Transportation Division expressed their gratitude with a souvenir presented to GD representative, Mr Lee, as a token of appreciation.