NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Confirmed by D.J.1.
of British Register or as a separate Registry) which
differs from that applied to UK registered ships.
This, however, is a step neither HMG nor the Hong
Kong Government would wish to contemplate without
first investigating and giving extremely careful
consideration to what could well be far-reaching
implications. Nevertheless we are pursuing the
possibility along these lines.
7. Short of a more permanent solution, the
crux of the matter appears to lie in the method by
which exemptions under the Merchant Shipping
(Aliens Employment) Ordinance (Cap 80) are given.
Were they to be granted in the UK I understand they
could be on a time-scale basis and that whilst a UK
exemption would rarely exceed 6 months, there is
nothing to prevent a longer period say one year
being granted by the Director of Marine# if he so
wishes. Understandably, "port to port" or short-term
exemptions would be unsatisfactory to Mr Pao; he may
not, however, be aware that longer-term exemptions
which may be much more acceptable - are perhaps
available to him.
8. Whilst a Hong Kong exemption is valid it is, of
course, inviolable within its limited application
(ie to a particular officer on a particular Hong
Kong registered ship) anywhere in the world. The
difficulty would arise,however, should an exemption
expire in a port other than Hong Kong. This situation
could be alleviated if the Hong Kong Government were
prepared to request all Commonwealth Governments
(and, in effect therefore, British Consulates in
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