But Hong Kong youngsters are failing to take advantage of the opportunities as the number of ocean-going seafarers based in the city has dropped to just 200, compared with 30,000 at the height of the city's sea trade in the 1970s.

A senior official said the government would launch a publicity campaign to promote the industry in a bid to change the attitude of the younger generation. It would also subsidise those who wanted to enter the industry.

A shortage of manpower is also affecting the booming ferry business between Macau and Hong Kong, with about 100 vacancies expected to hit the market in a few months when a number of new routes come into service. But industry sources said shipping companies had to re-employ retired seamen as there were very few newcomers.

Deputy Secretary for Transport and Housing Janice Tse Siu-wa said the situation was worrying, especially when many of the remaining veteran seamen and maritime experts were approaching retirement.

'I think most people might still have the illusion that seafaring is a blue-collar job mainly for the low-skilled worker, but they neglect to note the high-paid sectors in ship management, ship brokering, maritime legal services and marine insurance, all thirsting for talent.'

Despite slowing growth in the port business, Hong Kong still earned HK$45.6 billion in 2005 from port-related services, such as ship management and ship financing - an increase of 50 per cent on 2003.

Kwok Kam-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Seamen's Union, said shipping companies had turned to India, the mainland and the Philippines for cheap labour when Hong Kong's workforce began to abandon the industry in the 1980s, and many of those workers were on vessels.

'The fact that ocean-going officers have to spend years on the sea with crew members from a different country and who speak a different language is a major barrier when trying to get well-bred local kids to join the industry,' he said.

The city's three institutes that offer maritime studies produced almost 200 maritime specialists in 2006, according to government statistics, but only a handful took what they had learned to the deck.

However, Tony Yeung Pui-keung, Tai Lam Chung centre manager of the Maritime Services Training Institute - the city's major maritime course provider - mentioned what might have been a turning point last year.

'More than half of our 25 graduates last year decided to work on an ocean vessel. That was the largest batch in decades.' Increased pay and promising career prospects might be the reasons, he said.

'Shipping companies are now offering monthly salaries of up to HK$20,000 for a deck officer, and about HK$80,000 for a captain, up by almost 60 per cent from a year ago.'

Many positions in the high-value-added maritime sector - ship management, ship brokering, maritime legal services and marine insurance - also demand that candidates have sea-going experience. The government has launched various scholarships and career talks to attract youngsters to the industry, but the results have not been significant. A scholarship scheme on ship repairing that began in 2006 has so far been awarded to only seven applicants.

Making waves

Hong Kong is the world's seventh-largest maritime centre

Percentage of the world's merchant fleet controlled by the city's shipowners: 8%