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Convention, "routing organisation"
is defined as
an
organisation, listed in Attachment 4 to the said document,
through which the application for approval of a ship earth
station is forwarded to INMARSAT. The Hong Kong TA (along
with a number of other authorities from territories which
are not states) is listed in Attachment 4 as a routing
organisation. The latest edition of this
dated February 1989
(Copies of relevant
applications for earth
document is
extracts of
stations on ships
Attachment 4 are at Annex C.) In practice this means
that: (a)
registered in Hong Kong have to be submitted to the Hong
Kong TA; and (b) such applications are dealt with by
Approval
direct communications between INMARSAT and the Hong Kong
TA without the need to go through the UK or BT.
of the application is notified by INMARSAT to the
applicant and
and the Hong Kong TA. An example of such an
application, and the approval of it, is at Annex D. The
above practice has given rise to no objection by
by any
member of the Organization, and can now be taken to be the
accepted and established practice.
Benefits
14.
Hong Kong is a prominent
centre for shipowning
and management activities. As of March 1989, the total
gross tonnage of shipping registered in Hong
in Hong Kong was
6,508,578 tons.
contributes
This large fleet of merchant ships
significantly
to Hong
Kong's economy.