TNAG-0357-FCO40-393-Registration-of-merchant-shipping-in-Hong-Kong-1972 — Page 104

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this position and that he would really prefer sailing under

"The Hong Kong flag". There is, of course, no Hong Kong

flag. Hong Kong is a port of British registry: ships

registered there are British ships and fly the United King-

dom flag. Registration of ships as British involves certain

obligations in relation to safety standards and manning

requirements. It is believed that one of the reasons Mr Pao

particularly wants to settle this issue and register more of

his ships in Hong Kong is that it would enable the vessels

to sail to China. This they cannot do if registered under

the Liberian or Panamanih flags.

4. It would be possible in the long term to create a

separate Hong Kong register through UK legislation and local

statute, although no convincing evidence has yet been pro-

duced of the benefits this would bring to either Hong Kong

or the UK. Mr Pao's proposal seems to involve two separate

issues; first the question what qualifications as regards

nationality and principal place of business would be imposed

upon shipowners and such questions as what flag the ships

would fly, and secondly, and more important, what safety

standards as regards ship construction, equipment and manning,

would be applied. In the event of a separate Hong Kong regi-

ster being created, obligations consequent upon registration

would still have to comply with the international convention

on the safety of life at sea (SOLAS).

The UK conscientiously

interprets the SOLAS requirements and in some cases requires

higher standards than those laid down in the Convention: it

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/would