already gone further in our proposals than any other
traditional maritime country with a first-class
safety record.
6. Before I can confirm these proposals, I need to
have a reliable estimate of the ships and tonnage
expected to be added to the Hong Kong register; the
recent estimates seem rather disappointing. While I
appreciate what is said in paragraph 4 of your
telegram of 12 July, we need some assurance that the
considerable new moves contemplated, including
secondments of staff, would be justified by the
results. It would also be helpful to have an estimate
of the timing of the legislative and other moves so
we can consider when we should send our people to
Hong Kong; this has yet to be discussed with our
Staff Side.
7. We should also like your detailed comments on
access to the Hong Kong register in pursuance of
item (6) of my telegram of 21 June. It has been
suggested by representatives of our shipowners that
they should be able to register their ships in Hong
Kong and have the benefit of the new arrangements but
I am very doubtful about this.
8. I hope we can soon reach final agreement on this
basis.