CONFIDENTIAL
Draft Letter from P/S Minister for Aerospace & Shipping
to Lord Bridges at No. 10
HONG KONG REGISTER OF SHIPPING
Thank you for your letter of 29th August.
The Minister's latest
move to resolve the matter was well received in Hong Kong and
their Director of Marine was here last week when the enclosed
document was drawn up. This is now being considered in Hong Kong
and by the Governor, who is on holiday in Scotland, and we are
currently discussing it with both sides of industry and our own
Staff Side. The question of access to the register is a difficult
matter and may take some time to resolve.
You will see that the document is described as a Draft Agreement
in Principle. The Director of Marine made it clear in discussion
that his aduinistrationhas little knowledge of the standards of
spoken English and technical competence of officers on Hong Kong shipowners' ships, many of which do not trade to Hong Kong, of
the syllabus and training for Taiwan certificates, which many of
the officers hold, and of the arrangements for type-testing items
of ships' equipment, many of which are fitted in Japanese yards.
Also, his plans for increasing numbers of marine surveyors to deal
with a greatly enlarged register are sketchy and almost certainly
inadequate. Hong Kong shipowners are reluctant to commit tonnage
to the new register before they see something of the marine surveyors
we send out, and can form a better idea of the standards of spoken
English and technical competence looked for in non-British Officers
cont'd........