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broad lines of agreement are acceptable and there is the
prospect of a worth-while increase in tonnage on the
Hong Kong register, we would pursue discussions with
you at official level and consider sending a small
advance party of surveyors out to Hong Kong by the end
of the year to gain experience and to help in making
detailed arrangements. Their instructions would be to
work with your Director of Marine to make the new
arrangements operate smoothly while ensuring that
acceptable standards are maintained in terms of qualifica-
tions of officers, safety equipment and crew accommodation.
One detail that needs clarification is the nationality
and qualifications of radio officers on which, if we
are to proceed, we should like to have as soon as
possible your proposals for discussion with the union
concerned.
The arrangements would, of course, be reviewed after they
have been operated for a trial period by which time we
hope that our discussions with EEC countries would have
yielded results but it should not be assumed that this
would necessarily lead to further relaxations on our
side, particularly with regard to Masters. We have
already gone further in our proposals than any other
traditional maritime country with a first-class safety
record has done. I hope that the Hong Kong shipowners
will now decide to modify their attitude in the interests
of securing an agreement that would, I believe, be
workable and could be justified internationally.