CONFIDENTIAL
HKIDD for draft winte from dips to
PR by Monday, pl
C
Ps / Pus
Sir Alo
4
not
Дерек
Phot
16/4
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PRIME MINISTER
HONG KONG : SHIPPING
Mr. Fao,
You will recall meeting Mr. Y.K. Pao of World-Wide (Shipping) Ltd., Hong Kong, in June of this year, whose company owns come 7 million tons of shipping, mainly registered in Liberia, suggested that if certain changes wore made in Hong Kong shipping legislation this would reduce the disadvantage or registering ships in Hong Kong and help the Colony. The Hong Kong Goverment have also raised this question, You asked that the matter should bo examined and a report made to you.
An official
2. We have thoroughly considered the question. has been to Hong Kong to discuss the proposals of the Hong Kong Government and discussions with the company have taken place both in London and Hong Kong.
3. The proposals of Mr. Fao were, briefly, as follows:
4.
(1) that Hong Kong should cease to be, in effect, part
of the UK register of shipping and should have a register of its own;
(ii) that the requirements that the master, chief officer
and chief engineer should be British subjects and that the second officer and second engineer should hold British certificates of competency should be dropped;
(iii) that items of safety equipment in ships should be
approved by Hong Kong marine surveyors rather than, as now happens, by the UK.
The Hong Kong Government's proposals were similar to (i) and (iii) but on (ii) they took the view that the master should continue to be British and that foreign officers would be accepted in the other positions only if they possessed certificates of competency agreed with the DII as equivalent to British certificates.
5. In the case or (iii) (approval of safety equipment) we propose to enter into discussions with the Hong Kong Government with a view to agreeing that in fields where Hong Kong is equipped to do so it should be empowered to accept equiquent as aquisfying regulacions for UK chips; tbis will take some time but we will move as quickly as circumstances permit.
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