Department of Trade and Industry
BOARD OF TRADE
SUNLEY HOUSE
90/93 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON WC1
TELEPHONE: 01-405 6911 ext 246
RECOVED IN
Your ref: HK K21/6
REGISTRY No.51
Our ref: MC 49/1/0242
26 JUL 1971
WKK 21/6
LAST
REF.
J A Clewley Esq
NEXT
REF.
Hong Kong Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1
11 June 1971
19
15
Dear Clewley
John Hall has drawn my attention to a copy of a letter which you passed to us on 27 May from the Director of Marine, Hong Kong, to Mr Pao on which you have requested our comments. I also understand that you have sought our reaction to a possible development which could result in the Hong Kong marine legislation providing for rules as to nation- ality which would differ from those applicable in current UK legis- lation presumably you have in mind requirements in relation to the nationality of persons filling senior posts such as Master and Chief Engineer on ships registered in Hong Kong.
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2 It seems to us that the main stumbling block in Mr Pao's view is what
he describes as the rigid nationality requirement of officers and engineers serving in senior posts and the certification requirements. In that regard we feel that the Director of Marine's attitude as expressed in his letter of 5 May 1971 is reasonable and accords with our thinking. The Hong Kong authorities have provided for the pos- sibility of exemptions in particular cases where the services of duly certificated officers are unobtainable and subject to standards which contain safeguards in the interests of safety. There is indeed a shortage of qualified seafaring officers - a subject on which the Rochdale Committee of Inquiry into Shipping had a good deal to say in its recent report and so far as the UK is concerned we are at present engaged on the urgent task of reviewing current arrangements in relation to certification, manning and training of ships' officers in the hope of laying the foundations for a more stable situation in the long term. This is a subject we shall be discussing shortly with both sides of the shipping industry and in the course of such discus- sion we shall be considering, among other things, the extent to which the present requirements as to nationality of persons holding senior positions such as Master and Chief Engineer may need to be relaxed in connection with new regulations we intend to make under Section 43 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1970. This is a difficult and sensitive issue and I have no doubt that any changes in policy which we ulti- mately adopt would, in our view, be applicable not only to ships registered in the UK but also to those registered in dependent