The gallery spaces are filled with some of Hong Kong's most interesting cultural heritage objects.
Themes explored in the galleries include:  China's maritime heritage, the Canton Trade, the Pirate Coast, Hong Kong's harbour, the evolution of China's modern maritime world, relations with foreign powers, maritime communications, charting, navigation and pilotage, recreational uses of the water, the underwater world, the sounds of the sea, shipping today, port development and safety at sea and Chinese marine art.

Each of the galleries has been set up with the help and support of individuals and corporations in the maritime industry, who believe that the preservation of Hong Kong's maritime history should be a priority.

One of the highlights of the museum is a painted scroll that depicts historical events of piracy in China.
The scroll is one of Hong Kong's most important historical artefacts and one of the jewels of the museum's collection.
It was painted in the early 19th century by an unknown artist to commemorate the defeat of the pirates who prowled the waters around Guangdong in the mid-Jiaqing period (1796–1820).
The scroll is prominently displayed in the new Sea Bandits Gallery, in addition to the original, museum visitors have the opportunity to examine a digitised version of the scroll in minute detail.

Other highlights include four paintings painted in Macau in the late 18th century, styled the 'Gentiloni Paintings'.
They are of Macau, Whampoa (Huangpu), Guangzhou and Zhaoqing and had arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by 1810 when the lay secretary to the Papal Legate to the Portuguese Imperial court bought or was given them.
They remained in the family until 2010, when they were purchased for the people of Hong Kong thanks to a donation from Fairmont Shipping.

The magnificent 'General' Cannon in the Pacific Basin Sea Bandits Gallery was captured at Humen in the very first engagement of the First Opium War in 1841.
Taken back to Britain, initially stored in the Tower of London and eventually a garden ornament, it was purchased by HKMM in 2010 thanks to a donation by Mr Kenneth K.W. Lo and brought back to its original home waters.

Thanks to the Surveying and Mapping Office Training School of the Lands Department of the HKSAR, the HIT Viewing Gallery has the 'Rifleman's Bolt', preserving a small but vital part of Hong Kong's maritime and general cartographic heritage.

Generous donors and lenders have ensured that the museum's galleries are full of mementoes to Hong Kong's long, important, varied and intriguing maritime story – from the very first modern chart of Hong Kong (unknown until HKMM helped to identify it in 2007), through stunning arrays of ship portraits and ship models, to one of the earliest of the modern chronometers that opened up the modern globalised maritime world, and a windsurfer used by Hong Kong's Hayley Chan Hei Man (陳晞文) in the 2012 Olympic Games.

The galleries have over 25 interactive screens using the latest technology to introduce visitors to the vast range of stories and topics at the heart of Hong Kong's – and the world's – maritime story.
The gallery spaces are filled with some of Hong Kong's most interesting cultural heritage objects. Themes explored in the galleries include:  China's maritime heritage, the Canton Trade, the Pirate Coast, Hong Kong's harbour, the evolution of China's modern maritime world, relations with foreign powers, maritime communications, charting, navigation and pilotage, recreational uses of the water, the underwater world, the sounds of the sea, shipping today, port development and safety at sea and Chinese marine art.
Each of the galleries has been set up with the help and support of individuals and corporations in the maritime industry, who believe that the preservation of Hong Kong's maritime history should be a priority.
One of the highlights of the museum is a painted scroll that depicts historical events of piracy in China. The scroll is one of Hong Kong's most important historical artefacts and one of the jewels of the museum's collection. It was painted in the early 19th century by an unknown artist to commemorate the defeat of the pirates who prowled the waters around Guangdong in the mid-Jiaqing period (1796–1820). The scroll is prominently displayed in the new Sea Bandits Gallery, in addition to the original, museum visitors have the opportunity to examine a digitised version of the scroll in minute detail.
Other highlights include four paintings painted in Macau in the late 18th century, styled the 'Gentiloni Paintings'. They are of Macau, Whampoa (Huangpu), Guangzhou and Zhaoqing and had arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by 1810 when the lay secretary to the Papal Legate to the Portuguese Imperial court bought or was given them. They remained in the family until 2010, when they were purchased for the people of Hong Kong thanks to a donation from Fairmont Shipping.
The magnificent 'General' Cannon in the Pacific Basin Sea Bandits Gallery was captured at Humen in the very first engagement of the First Opium War in 1841. Taken back to Britain, initially stored in the Tower of London and eventually a garden ornament, it was purchased by HKMM in 2010 thanks to a donation by Mr Kenneth K.W. Lo and brought back to its original home waters.
Thanks to the Surveying and Mapping Office Training School of the Lands Department of the HKSAR, the HIT Viewing Gallery has the 'Rifleman's Bolt', preserving a small but vital part of Hong Kong's maritime and general cartographic heritage.
Generous donors and lenders have ensured that the museum's galleries are full of mementoes to Hong Kong's long, important, varied and intriguing maritime story – from the very first modern chart of Hong Kong (unknown until HKMM helped to identify it in 2007), through stunning arrays of ship portraits and ship models, to one of the earliest of the modern chronometers that opened up the modern globalised maritime world, and a windsurfer used by Hong Kong's Hayley Chan Hei Man (陳晞文) in the 2012 Olympic Games.
The galleries have over 25 interactive screens using the latest technology to introduce visitors to the vast range of stories and topics at the heart of Hong Kong's – and the world's – maritime story.
Hong Kong Maritime Museum