CONFIDENTIAL
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY Sunley House, 90-93 High Holborn, LONDON, WC1V 6LP
Andrew Stuart Esq
HKIOD
Room K243
Whitehall
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
LAST
SW1
Rr.
Dear Andrew,
f:
Telephone: 01-405 6911
31 August 1973
85
Ext 463
86+87
Piz
Pa
DIN
N.51
S SEP1973
RLE
87)
HKK 2/2
86/2/1
so/Elii
HONG KONG REGISTER OF SHIPPING
Following yesterday's meeting with Allan Fletcher and my colleagues part of which you attended, I enclose three copies of the paper which was agreed between us. I am sending a copy of it on a confidential basis to the Chamber of Shipping and the Shipping Federation for discussion on 4 September. This meeting is likely to centre on the question of access to the register and I would hope to formulate proposals under this head after that meeting though further detailed consideration of them will be needed by the Hong Kong Government, yourself and our Shipping Policy Division.
Allan Fletcher wanted a copy of the paper to be sent to Hong Kong so that shipowners there could be consulted on a confidential basis next week and the financial arrangements set out in para 2(f) could be further considered. He also wanted the Governor on holiday in Scotland to see a copy.
The recent press comment on these exchanges may make it necessary for us to say more than is said in the second enclosure of this letter, which I authorised our Press Office to use today. In particular, I am seeing the seafaring unions on 10 September which, judging by the comments of John Slater of the MNAOA as reported in yesterday's Lloyd's List, will be a difficult meeting.
It may be advisable for us to release publicly either the whole of the Draft Heads of Agreement in Principle or the gist of them at that point in preference to a garbled version being released to the press by the MNAOA and I would be glad if we could have the agreement of Hong Kong to doing this should it seem advisable. We would make it clear at the time that final agreement has not yet been reached.
I am not sure that it is now necessary for the Governor to meet the Minister since we have reached agreement at official level.
There, may, however, be difficulties drising after my meetings with the two sides of industry. The Governor may, therefore, be disposed to meet me when he is passing through London in a fortnight's time.