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LF Standen Esq Marine Division
Department of Trade & Industry
Sunley House
90-93 High Holborn
HKK 21/2
25 September 1972
HONG KONG SHIPPING REGISTER
1.
Before you leave for Hong Kong I thought you might find it useful to have our comments on your department's brief and Mr Fletcher's reply.
2. It has been stressed, rightly, that should a Hong Kong register be established then the same standards should continue to apply as under a UK register. Whilst some doubt has been expressed in the DTI brief of the Hong Kong Government's intention in this regard, Mr Fletcher has stressed in his letter that there would be no question of allowing standards to be lowered. I write to confirm that we fully accept the Hong Kong Government's assurance in this respect.
3. One of my colleagues has suggested that were an independent registry be seen as too great a step the answer might lie, for hir Y K Pao at least, in a Hong Kong Merchant Shipping Act on the lines of the Bermuda Merchant Shipping Act of 1930. You will have seen my letter of even reference of 2 August to Mackenny referring to this. My colleague points out that Bermuda provides the registered home for about 1 million tons of Canadian Facific shipping. I understand this situation is not without its problems for your department as Bermuda does not have a sophisticated local maritime authority, unlike Hong Kong. We doubt also if lower deck crewing on CP ships can be met from Bermudian labour resources in the same way and to the same degree as a Hong Kong flagged vessel would be crewed by Hong Kong Chinese. In such circumstances the Bermudian flag would appear to be much more one of convenience than a Chinese Hong Kong owned, crewed and flagged vessel might ever be seen to be. In short, if Bermuda can be allowed this freedom as regards manning how much more sound are the grounds for Hong Kong.
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