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2 April
2004
For enquiries, please contact
the Corporate Affairs Department, tel.: (852)
2115 3751, email:cad@ModernTerminals.com.
Modern Terminals Receives Statement of Compliance
for Port Facility Security Plan
Modern Terminals is one of
the first two Hong Kong container terminal operators
to receive a Statement of Compliance to certify
that the Port Facility Security Plan we prepared
for our operations conforms to the International
Maritime Organization¡¦s (IMO) International Ship
and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The Statement
was presented by the Director of Marine of the
Hong Kong SAR Government at a ceremony held in
his office on 2nd April 2004.
The Code will become effective
in July 2004. All contracting governments with
the IMO are required to ensure that their port
facilities comply with its requirements. The Marine
Department is responsible for implementing it
in Hong Kong.
The first stage of this process
was the preparation of a Port Facility Security
Assessment. Modern Terminals became the first
Hong Kong container terminal operator in Hong
Kong to submit such an Assessment on 19th August
2003. We then became the first company to receive
the Marine Department¡¦s approval to draft an associated
Security Plan, on 18th September 2003.
¡§We are delighted to be one
of the first terminal operators to receive the
Statement of Compliance. We intend to continue
making the most strenuous efforts to enhance our
security level, thus contributing to the safety
and reputation of the Hong Kong Container Port,¡¨
said Mr. Sean Kelly, Deputy Managing Director
of Modern Terminals.
The company is currently involved
in a joint study to find ways to upgrade container
security without impeding the movement of containers.
Security can only be achieved in partnership with
other stakeholders in the industry, and the community
at large.
This includes a pilot test
for the integrated use of technologies to provide
customs authorities with improved data about the
contents of containers including a radiographic
image and a radiation profile without stopping
containers as they enter the marine terminal.
The technologies to provide
container scanning include a radiation portal
monitor, a gamma-ray imaging portal and optical
character recognition.
Sean
Kelly (left), Deputy Managing Director of Modern
Terminals receives Statement of Compliance for
Port Facility Security Plan from Mr. S.Y. Tsui,
Director of Marine.
Pursuing Continuous Improvement in Customer
Service Standards
To support our ongoing
efforts to improve customer service and achieve the industry¡¦s best customer satisfaction standards,
Modern Terminals recently implemented the Customer
Experience Programme (CEP).
| The Programme¡¦s
objective is: ¡§To produce brand promises and
a service strategy that lead us in defining
and implementing an improved, world-class
customer experience that is different and
unique to Modern Terminals. Modern Terminals¡¦
customers will be the measure of our success.¡¨
The Programme will help
us maintain and reinforce our decentralized
customer service structure, and ensure that
the (new) Modern Terminals customer experience
is consistently delivered throughout the
company, making us a truly customer-centred
organization.
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The PA Consulting Group is
assisting Modern Terminals in delivering the Programme.
This leading management and systems consultant
has previously worked for our company in the area
of operational productivity, as well as with other
port operators and shipping lines around the world.
More Convenient Trucking Services Are in the Pipeline
Modern Terminals and Shenzhen
South-China International Logistics Co Ltd are
jointly developing a Cross Boundary Trucking Pipeline.
This includes a green lane for cargo traffic,
plus supporting value-added services that benefit
the local logistics and transportation industries.
The business model has received positive feedback
from various stakeholders in the supply chain.
Modern Terminals
and SILC signed a service agreement
on the Cross Boundary Trucking Pipeline project
on 31st March 2004.
The two companies signed a
service agreement on 31st March 2004. It covers
the following services:
- Inland Depot Empty Container
Service, with customs clearance functions
- Inland Depot Laden Container
Service, with services for cross-boundary truckers
to interchange with local truckers
- One-Stop Cross Boundary
Trucking Service, including roadside inland
gate services
- Green Lane Service, including
the exchange of information with customs and
relocation of checkpoint functions from Huanggang
to SILC
The Inland Depot Empty Container
Service was launched immediately after the signing
of the agreement, while the other services will
be inaugurated soon.
To realize the ¡§Laden-in/Laden-out¡¨
concept by making full use of SILC¡¦s mainland
customs clearance function for empty containers,
Modern Terminals launched the Cross-Boundary Haulage
Matching Platform as a new element in our ModernPorts
services earlier this year. A briefing session
was arranged for trucking communities and their
feedback was positive. By arrangement with shipping
lines, shippers and consignees can now consign
truckers to return an empty container to SILC
after it has been unpacked. Then they can immediately
pick up another empty container for packing of
export shipments to Hong Kong. This type of successful
matching helps the cross-boundary trucking community
by improving turnaround time, reducing the number
of boundary-crossing trips, and shortening waiting
time at the boundary. The result will be higher
productivity and efficiency. Ultimately, the entire
community will benefit through the elimination
of unnecessary trips to return and reposition
empty containers.
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