Reference....
165
cc PS/Finister A&S
PJ/PUCS (A&S) Secretary (ALS)
MR ARCHER MAR
iNKKaily
MR
Angstacke
spotis
Mr Hubback - Dep Sec Sr Manson - SG MAR
BERMUDA: SEPARATE REGISTER OF SHIPPING
Mr Madigan
MARU
rs Wicks MAR1D Mr JC Philip -- FCO Mr A Stuart FCQ
PA
(нк
૮)
Suppil
·28.Xu
Sir Edward Richards, Premier of Bermuda, accompanied by Mr Philip (FCO) and Mr Johnson-Gilbert (of Messrs Coward Chance, Solicitors) came to see me this afternoon to discuss the attached memorandum on the establishment of a separate register of shipping for Bermuda,
Sir Edward pointed out that the economy of Bermuda rested upon three sources of income: tourism, financial services and shipping registration fees, His country was anxious to expand the latter appreciably, and he felt that this could be done by offering attractive facilities for the registration of ships which were not otherwise associated with Bermuda,
Before this could be done, however, four obstacles had to be surmounted, as follows:
a.
d.
the requirement that the master, chief officer and chief
engineer must be British subjects
the slow procedures for extending international shipping conventions (eg SOLAS and the Load Lines Convention) to Bermuda
of
the residual power of HMG to veto the sale or mortgage of ships on the Bermudian register
the difficulty of establishing what shipping legislation is in fact applicable to Bermuda,
On b, the extension of the 1960 Safety of Life at Sea Convention to Bermuda has recently been completed. This was a long and complex task and it is a speed-up in procedures to which the Premier was referring. The extension of future Conventions should, after the experienced gained with SOLAS, be considerably easier and faster,
on c
5
the problem is apparently that US owners would be unwilling to register ships in Bermuda if their sale were to be dependent upon possible defence considerations under the Ships and Aircraft Transfer Restriction) Act 1939. We are looking into this to see what is involved.
On d, there is, as with all dependencies, a considerable problem in deciding what shipping provisions do apply and, as a first step, the Solicitor's Department to d raving up a complete list of shipping. provisions, which will be discussed with Mesere Coward Chance, as Pepresenting tho Bermud Lan Government in this matter, with a view to trying to clarify the situation,