The agents of the ship claimed that the crew would stop work if the Hong Kong cargo were discharged and some of the passengers on the ship, who were in transit from Whampoa to Singapore, demonstrated in support of the crew. A police party was put on board to ensure the safety of the ship and the cargo was unloaded. The crew walked off but was replaced through the Seamen's Recruiting Office.
82. This test case, which challenged the effectiveness of the boycott and demonstrated that crews could be replaced in Hong Kong, did much to restore the confidence of foreign shippers.
83. During the second week of September four non-Chinese flag ships arrived in port from China to discharge cargo consigned to Hong Kong. The arrival of these vessels marked the first break in the boycott. Since then cargoes arriving in the Colony from China have fluctuated from 5,000 tons in August to 49,000 tons in October and 26,000 tons in December. (During December the previous year 238,000 tons of cargo had been imported from China.) As the vast majority of this cargo was being carried by vessels (mainly Greek) chartered to Peking, it would appear that the Chinese were either refusing cargo to non-chartered ships, or that there was a shortage of cargoes and chartered ships were being given preference for loadings. The answer was probably a com- bination of these factors. Reliable reports indicated that conditions at Chinese ports were chaotic, ships were being subjected to lengthy delays and there were shortages of fuel oil, port labour and cargo lighters. Certain British shipping companies continued to claim that their ships were being refused cargo at Chinese ports because these companies failed to observe the boycott of Hong Kong.
84. At Hong Kong, all cargo requirements were maintained although during the latter eight months of the year the number of ships calling and the amount of cargo moving dropped considerably compared with the same period the previous year. During the period May/December 1967, a total of 4,610,273 tons of cargo was discharged, compared with 4,868,475 tons during the same period in 1966, a decrease of approxi- mately 6%. Cargo loaded during the same eight months in 1967 totalled 1,504,646 tons compared with 2,034,410 tons during the same period in 1966, representing a considerable drop of approximately 35%. Never- theless, the amount of cargo loaded during the whole of 1967, 2,417,344 tons, was the second highest since the Second World War, exceeded only in 1966 when 2,803,443 tons were loaded.
26
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.