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25
Note for the Secretary of State
The Requisitioning of Ships Order, 1969
In 1955 Prerogative powers were invoked by way of the
Requisitioning of Ships Order, 1955, to provide for the
requisitioning of British ships for the evacuation of Hong Kong in the event of an emergency. The Order was brought up to date by the Requisitioning of Ships (Amendment) Order, 1958,
but is now again out of date. Although there is no longer a
plan for the evacuation of Hong Kong, it is envisaged that in
the event of an emergency a limited last minute operation to
evacuate certain sensitive and vulnerable personnel would be
carried out. The powers of requisition might be needed for
this. It is therefore considered that the Order of 1955 and
the amending Order of 1958 should be revoked and replaced by a fresh Order, the Requisitioning of Ships Order, 1969.
The existing Orders have never been published and to avoid
any possibility of having to disclose their existence at some
future date, their revocation is provided for in a separate
Order.
Similarly, the Requisitioning of Ships Order, 1969, will
not be published: it will be held in readiness against the
occurrence of an emergency in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Department 11 November, 1969
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