HONG KONG STANDARD OCT 1673-
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UK team to
study ships' registry plan
arrive
AN OFFICIAL four-member British delegation will tomorrow to study arrangements to set up a shipping registry in Hongkong.
The delegates, from the Marine Division of the Department of Trade and Industry, will be led by Dr J. Cowley, Chief Examiner. He will be accompanied by Senior Ship Surveyor G. Thomson and two other senior officials.
The team will work with Hongkong's Marine Department to study the feasibility of setting up a separate registry of shipping in Hongkong.
A
A
REPORT READY AT
END
OF YEAR
by
Paul Cheung
reliable source told Standard yesterday.
the
The study, expected to be ready by December, will end two years of talks on the project. It is believed agreement has been reached on all major issues,
Alter the study, further consultations will be held with representatives of the Colony's Industries,
"A decision will then be made in the light of these consultations and the amount of tonnage which local shipowners agree to bring on to the proposed separate registrar," the source said.
The plan for a separate registry was initiated last year at a Legislative Council meeting and a committee was later formed to draw up proposals for talks with Britain.
The committee consisted of three members from the Hongkong's Shipowners' Association and three from the,
shipping committee of the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce working in
consultation with the Colonial Secretary and the Marine Department.
Since then,
The Marine Department at present runs A registry of shipping responsible to the Registrar General in Britain.
Hongkong government officials have had talks with their British counterparts to sort out the legal ramifications of setting up Hongkong's own shipping registry.
TONNAGE
The proposal for a registry has been welcomed both by the Government
and shipowners.
They expressed their wish to set up a separate registry with standards equivalent to those attached to the United Kingdom register but with greater flexibility in order to reflect the situation in Hongkong as regards availability of personnel, materials and safety equipment.
This may result in Hongkong shipowners registering ! much bigger proportion of their tonnage in Hongkong The tonnage owned by Hongkong shipowners is about 25 million tons.
It is also understood that one of the obstacles to the registry plan is the question of whether the masters and second masters of ships that register with Hongkong should be British subjects,
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