High-speed passenger craft will soon need to install an automatic identification system to facilitate better monitoring of speeding, a government official said Wednesday.

Secretary for Economic Development & Labor Stephen Ip said collisions have fallen 5.5 percent since 2003 to 205 last year, with seven injuries recorded.

He said among the cases, nearly 72 percent involved Mainland-registered vessels, of which about 63 percent were container ships and 30 percent cargo ones.

In the last three years, nine Chinese mainland vessels have been prosecuted for speeding, 18 for not following traffic lanes or fairways, and 119 for illegal entry into or staying in Hong Kong waters.

To improve maritime safety, the Marine Department conducted 19,925 patrol inspections last year, up more than 10 percent over a year earlier. Over half were conducted on Mainland-registered vessels.

Ip said the port state control inspection of Mainland-registered high speed passenger craft will be stepped up so they will be subject to inspection at least once every two years instead of once every five years as at present.

Source: Xinhua