HKK 175/1
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24 MARICRO
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MR STEELE'S VISIT TO HONG KONG H
A SEPARATE HONG KONG RE
BRIEF
Introduction and Summary
1
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3 C.C. Miss 0. Goodinsin
Слава Consular Dept.
Miss Ritchie, H&GD Mrs. Siddle, Legel
Hong Kong is at present a port of registry under the British flag. There have in the past been demands in form for a separate Hong Kong register but in substance for a varying/lowering of the requirements imposed as a consequence of a ship being registered there. There have recently been signs that these
may be reviving. This paper considers the advantages and disadvantages of a
separate Hong Kong register for Hong Kong and for the UK. It concludes that although there could be short-term gains (and also costs) for Hong Kong, in
the long run it is not in either Hong Kong's or the UK's interest.
Tadvisers
The Present Position
2 The conditions of access to the British flag in Hong Kong are identical
to those applicable in Metropolitan UK and the consequences of registration equivalent. Under Section 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (MSA 1894) -..
a British ship must be wholly owned by one or more British subjects and/or bodies corporate established under and subject to the laws of some part
of Her Majesty's dominions, and having their principal place of business in
these dominions. The 'dominions" embrace the United Kingdom, the dependent
territories and the independent countries of the Commonwealth. The safety
standards applied to ships registered in Hong Kong are equivalent to those applied
to UK-registered ships and are policed from their own resources: these standards have so far not been called in question. (Hong Kong is an associate member of
IMCO and all the major IMCO safety conventions have been extended to the
territory.) In particular once a ship is registered in Hong Kong its master,
first and second mate, and first and second engineer, must all have certificates
of competency or service granted in the UK under the Merchant Shipping Acts
or a colonial certificate of competency having the same force. Because of
the requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State for the issue of certificates
of competency, this means that its senior officers (master, first mate and chief engineer) must be British. (In Hong Kong the legal basis for this is
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