CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
Telephone 01-
PA
RECAVED REGISTRYN
SELIC
T W Aston Esq CMG
Senior British Trade Commissioner Hong Kong
Your referenda.
Our reference HKK 21/2
Date 4 September 1973
LAST
REF.
REF.
(103
HONG KONG REGISTER OF SHIPPING
Thank you for sending me the newspaper extracts from the Hong Kong Standard (17 August) and China Mail (18′ August), which I have just seen on my return from leave.
1.
2. You will know from my letter of 16 August (HKK 6/548/5) that a Hong Kong team was coming for further discussions with DTI.
These took place and agreement was reached on a Draft Heads of Agreement. I enclose a copy for your own information and for your senior staff. You will see that very considerable concessions have been given to Hong Kong which should enable a large number of ships to be transferred to the Hong Kong register. It will remain mandatary for the Master to be a British Subject. You will note the absence of particulars concerning access to the register. The DTI wish this to be restricted certainly in the first few years to bona fide Hong Kong firms. There are technical difficulties in drafting this so that companies which may be technically British (as opposed to Hong Kong), eg the shipping subsidiaries of Butterfield and Swire, may be included, but that subsidiaries of, let us say, P & O may not take advantage of the register.
3. I thought you would like to be aware of this development although, as you will realise, there is no action for you.
M A Goodfellow
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department
90)