cargo shipped between the Hong Kong port and ports in the Pearl River Delta. The terminal is located near Pillar Point in Tuen Mun, New Territories, and is operated by River Trade Terminal Company Ltd. The 65-hectare terminal, completed in November 1999, has about 3,000 metres of quay, according to Hong Kong Port Development Council data. Mid-stream Mid-stream operation involves loading and unloading containers to and from ships while at sea, with barges or dumb steel lighters performing the transfer, and then distributing or landing the containers to piers nearby. Due to high handling fees at the container terminals, Hong Kong has become the only place in the world with at-sea loading and unloading operations. Currently, there are 11 different yard sites solely for mid-stream operations, occupying a total land area of 27.5 hectares and waterfrontage of 3,197 metres. Ferry services The Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal between Central and Sheung Wan and the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui provide centralised ferry services to Macau and 24 ports on mainland China. About 100 vessels, mostly high-speed passenger craft such as jetfoils, catamarans and hoverferries, operate from these terminals. In 2001, over 17 million passengers passed through the terminals, comprising approximately 11.2 million passenger trips to/from Macau and 6.5 million passenger trips to/from mainland ports. Government fleet There are over 600 vessels of different types and sizes in the government fleet. About 152 vessels are major mechanised vessels serving under 16 government departments such as the Marine Police, Customs and Excise, and Fire Services. Some user departments operate and man their purpose-built vessels. The Marine Department itself controls about 100 vessels, including patrol launches, personnel carriers, pontoons, self-propelled barges and specialised vessels such as hydrographic survey launches and explosive carriers. These vessels provide support to the department's own port operations or serve other departments which do not have their own fleet. The Government Dockyard is responsible for the design, procurement and maintenance of all vessels owned by the Government. It occupies a site of 980,000 m² on Stonecutters Island and has an 83,000 m² protected water basin as an operational base for vessels operated by the Marine Department. The dockyard has a ship-lift system and three ship-hoists capable of drydocking vessels of up to 750 tonnes. An on-line computerised information system is employed to co-ordinate the maintenance activities and support services to maximise maintenance efficiency and vessel availability. Drydocks and