2.4.
5
It is vital to the viability of the register
that it should receive international recognition and
that the need for it to be as autonomous as the duties
of the State allow, should be understood.
2.5.
There can be no doubt that, in the terms of
international conventions, the ultimate duty with
regard to the operation of a shipping register and its
associated legislation lies with the State. Hence that
ultimate duty will remain with the UK until 1997 and
with the PRC thereafter. Similarly, ships on the
register in Hong Kong will be subject to British
sovereignty until 1997 and Chinese sovereignty
thereafter. That said, the duty of the State may be fulfilled by the State allowing a Dependent Territory
(or Special Administrative Region) to legislate on its
behalf in respect of ships coming under the control of
the Territory (or Region).
2.6.
Indeed, this is what is already being done.
Hong Kong legislation, for example, provides for the
Safety of Life at Sea provisions to apply to British
ships registered in Hong Kong. Likewise the revisions
proposed by the UK to the Merchant Shipping Act 1894
provide that Dependent Territories will legislate
themselves in respect of their own Registers instead of
relying on the Imperial provisions of the 1894 Act.