SECRET
Mr Rushford, Legal Advisers
$2
Reference.........
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(10) 1976
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THE VISIT OF THE "OTTO HAHN" TO HONG KONG
1.
Enteropath
You (and many of the recipients of "information" copies of this minute) will recall this matter (papers on which you have seen at least once before) but it may help the remainder of the copy addressees if I recapitulate on the story briefly: in November last year the Federal Republic of Germany asked for clearance for a visit to Hong Kong (which is now unlikely to take place until next year) of the state-owned nuclear-powered merchantman, the "Otto Hahn". After prolonged consultation with the Hong Kong Government we have told the Germans that "subject to the ship's owners reaching satis- factory arrangements with the Hong Kong Government on such questions as insurance and safety, we would have no objections to the visit going ahead".
2.
In a number of important ways the nature of the "satisfactory arrangements" which would need to be made depends on the question of which government, that of the UK or of Hong Kong, is ultimately resposible and in what ways for the safety and insurance aspects of the "Otto Hahn"'s visit.
3.
When the visit was first mooted the Department took the view that, while the Hong Kong Government must be responsible for making such administrative arrangements necessary to bring the "Otto Hahn" into Hong Kong, overall responsibility for the visit lay with HG. We consider that:
(a)
(b)
since HVG have overall responsibility for Hong Kong there would probably be questions in Parliament in the event of some accident accompanying the "Otto Hahn"'s visit;
while the "Otto Hahn" is apparently a civilian vessel it is at least partly owned by the government of the Federal Republic and its visit should therefore be subject to the same clearance procedures as apply to military vessels, visits by which are traditionally regarded as "foreign policy" affairs (and, of course, HMG is responsible for all the "non commercial" aspects of Hong Kong's external relations
We thus informed Hong Kong that, in the event of the "Otto Hahn" visiting Hong Kong, we would wish to be satisfied that their safety arrangements were satisfactory and "up to UK standards".
4. The process of ensuring that the safety and insurance measures that Hong Kong propose for the "Otto Hahn"'s visit are up to UK standards has involved consultation with the MOD (who have agreed that they are), the DOT, and via the latter, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Please now see the DOT's contribution, in the form of Mr Doyle's letter of 4 August to me, (now cupied to "for information" (Ddressees).
5.
You will see that Mr Doyle suggests that since the UK has extended the 1960 Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to Hong Kong their authorities are bound to comply with Chapter 8 of the 1960 Convention (which deals with all nuclear-powered ships except war ships). It fdlows, in the DOT's view, that "we consider the Hong Kong Government to be fully responsible for and capable of meeting their safety regulations as required by SOLAS 1960" and that it is up to the Hong Kong Marine Department to ensure that the visit by "Otto Hahn" is carried out in accordance with the SOLAS regulations.
6. I would be erateful to know whether from a legal point of view you share the DOT's view that it is for the Hong Kong Government to assume responsibility for the "Otto Hahn"'s visit. One aspect of this question is whether or not, by extending SOLAS to Hong Kong, we have implied that we consider such visits as the "Otto Hahn" to be the responsibility of the Hong Kong Government alone.
CODE 18-77
۱۳۹۵ کتر که ره
T J David
S$ 10/76
15 August 1977
HKGD
/cc copy recipients