2
Cowley said these points would be covered in the team's report.
2
On the question of equipment, Dr. Cowley said one of
the problems was that Japanese shipyards were accustomed to
building ships on a package-deal basis. It would be for shipowners
to decide whether they were prepared to make the necessary
alterations if required. H.E. the Governor thought there would
not be much difficulty with new ships. The problem was largely
over conversions of old ships, and he wondered whether the D.T.I.
team could give him an impression of the size of this problem.
Captain Anderson said the team's impression was that shipowners
were concentrating on the future and were not intending to put
many existing ships on the Register. In reply to a further
question from H.E. the Governor, Dr. Cowley said practice in the
U.K. was that a two-year grace period would be allowed for
conversions.
3
Mr. Fletcher pointed out that shipowners were basically
worried about costs. Much depended on the extent to which
equipment of Japanese manufacture would be accepted. A list of
approved equipment manufacturers would be needed before Hong Kong
shipowners could assess the cost implications of applying D.T.I.
standards.
4
H.E. the Governor asked whether sufficient information
had been obtained on the acceptability of Japanese equipment to
enable Hong Kong shipowners to make a judgement as to the tonnage
they might be prepared to commit to a Hong Kong Register. Mr.
Thompson said the team would report their findings to their
superiors. They could not, as a team, decide on whether a
particular manufacturer or piece of equipment was acceptable.