Hong Kong has eye for figures but client satisfaction is just as vital.

(From Lloyds List)

THE Hong Kong Shipping Register has seen significant growth this year, but says that numbers are not the most important thing.

'The figure target is not essential for HKSR. We want the clients to enjoy our services. Through promoting HKSR, we encourage more maritime activities, such as ship financing and shipmanagement, to be carried out in Hong Kong,' said Sik Woon Cheung, senior surveyor, security and quality assurance, at the Hong Kong Marine Department.

'In fact, we are happy to see that there are a number of shipmanagement companies set up in Hong Kong to operate their Hong Kong fleet.

'In order to enhance our service, we established a quality system to provide better services to the industry. Both our ship safety branch and the shipping registry and seafarers' branch were awarded the ISO 9001: 2000 certificate last year.'

In mid-August, the gross tonnage on HKSR was 24.3m, with vessels totalling 970. 'Since early 2004, the significant growth has been in bulk carriers, including OBOs, said Mr Cheung. 'The net increase is 50 vessels, with 2.6m gt.

'We believe the tonnage growth is largely due to our excellent service provided to the shipowners and shipmanagement companies which manage Hong Kong ships. Besides, ships of Hong Kong have a good reputation for quality which can be shown in our PSC inspection performance.