presumably be registered there.
For example a much larger number of
Hong Kong's marine administratic
inspectors and surveyors will be required.
is already stretched because of the amount of work involved in overseeing
the vast numbers of fishing vessels and smaller craft there.
the
No doubt
resources could be obtained but at a cost which would have to be met
by Hong Kong. (It does not necessarily follow of course that all Hong Kong
beneficially-owned vessels would be repatriated but the discrepancy between
the tonnage registered in Hong Kong and that registered under flags of
convenience is such that even the repatriation of modest proportion of
the Hong Kong flag of convenience fleet will present immense difficulties
for the Colony even if staged over say a five year period.)
Desirability
a
5. From a Hong Kong point of view, a separate register involving the
possibility of the employment of any officer
-
suitably certificated
would confer enhanced prestige. Hong Kong's growing importance as a
world shipping centre would be recognised by the creation of its own registe
It would also enable Hong Kong owners to enjoy one of the major advantages of the flag of convenience registration (flexibility of officering)
This advantage without the opprobrium which increasingly attaches to FOC.
would presumably offset the additional costs involved in expanding the
marine administration, building vessels to UK requirements, manning levels
Whether it will be a real advantage in the longer term however is
open to question sincere abolition of the requirement for British officers would remove one of the main planks in the defence of Hong Kong against
the charge, already levelled by the UNCTAD Secretariat, that registration
in Hong Kong amounts to flag of convenience registration (Note 4).
etc.
6. In any case, the creation of a separate Hong Kong register is not in
the UK's interest. So long as there is the unitary British flag it is
not in our interest to allow increasing variation in the ways in which
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