7. I consider that the arguments against the registra-
tion and manning proposals are cogent, while the
advantages to Hong Kong would be debatable. The prestige
argument for a separate register is of little substance
a ship registered under a separate Hong Kong register
would be registered by the Registrar of Ships, Hong Kong,
as at present and, for international reasons, continue to
fly the Red Ensign and be otherwise marked exactly as at
present. The relaxation of manning requirements proposed
by the Hong Kong Government would not, we believe, lead
to a substantial increase in officers available for
employment on Hong Kong ships: the countries whose
certificates Hong Kong has it in mind to accept themselves
all suffer from severe shortage of officers. More
generally, the establishment of a separate register in
favour of the very large Hong Kong owners who quote very
competitive chartering rates and have nearly all their
new tonnage built in Japan would not be likely to commend
itself to UK shipping companies and shipbuilders.
8. Rather than reject these proposals, however, we
would propose to go some way to help the Hong Kong
Government on the manning problem. There is power under
the Hong Kong shipping legislation to dispense with the
requirement that second mates and second engineers should
have UK certificates in cases where officers with such
qualifications are not available. This power has been
used fairly sparingly, but we would propose to recommend
to Hong Kong that it be used more liberally so as to permit
the employment in these two positions, where shortages are
/most
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