4
legislation relating to the registry of a vessel should
be substantially the same throughout the Commonwealth and
so far as possible based on the 1894 Act, was terminated in
1977. Some Commonwealth countries have introduced legislation
requiring their citizens to register their ships in their own
national register and denying access to that register to ships
owned in other parts of the Commonwealth.
Other countries
have moved towards an "open registry" and no longer require
their ships to be British owned according to the definition
in the 1894 Act. In practice, therefore, the concept of
the "British ship" is no longer appropriate and its persistence
enshrined in our legislation causes considerable difficulties of
interpretation and implementation.
Enforcement and Jurisdiction
7. At the practical level it is necessary for countries
to be able to enforce their laws and exercise their jurisdiction
over their ships, in accordance with the 1958 Convention on
the High Seas. This is all the more important since a substan-
tial body of international law has been developed to regulate
the safety of ships, the prevention of pollution, and the
training and welfare of seafarers. These international
Conventions place onerous duties on flag states which have
adopted them. For the UK, which is a party to all these
Conventions, it is of paramount importance that regulations
can be applied and enforced effectively on all ships registered
in the UK and Dependent Territories in accordance with our
....