10
In either case the management and control of the ship should be exercised from Hong Kong and there should be a legally accountable representative in Hong Kong for the purposes of enforcement and jurisdiction. These provisions, which are designed to provide the link between the register and the ship, might disqualify up to 40% of existing tonnage on the Hong Kong register.
7.2.2 Under UK law, the link between the State and the ship is manifested in the case of corporate ownership by the requirement that the company concerned should have its principal place of business in the United Kingdom or in a British Dependent Territory. In the case of ownership by a person, the person must in general be of British nationality. It is noted from the UK Department of Transport's consultative document of March 1984 on proposals for legislation on ship registration and other matters that the UK's
UK's objective in requiring the principal place of business to be in the UK
in the UK or in a British Dependent Territory was to ensure that legislation could be effectively enforced by the country of registry on its ships. In Hong Kong's circumstances, it is believed that the provision that there must be a legally accountable representative in
representative in Hong Kong for the purposes of enforcement and jurisdiction, together with the requirement that the management and control of the ship should be exercised from Hong Kong, will fully achieve this objective.
7.3 Officers
7.3.1
Hong Kong registration at present requires the master, chief officer and chief engineer to be British (see footnote). This is linked to the need to exercise jurisdiction and accountability over the civil operation of the ship world wide.
7.3.2
Consideration should be given to requiring at least the master to have the right of abode in Hong Kong. A transitional period might be necessary, bearing in mind that at present many masters of Hong Kong registered ships have no connection with Hong Kong.
Footnote:
more correctly, the Merchant Shipping (Aliens Employment) Ordinance (Chapter 80) provides that "no alien shall act as master, chief officer or chief engineer of a British ship of over 60 tons" registered in Hong Kong. An alien is defined in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Chapter 1) as "a person who is neither a Commonwealth citizen nor British protected person nor a citizen of the Republic of Ireland".