CONFIDENTIAL
...
PRIME MINISTER
2.
22
Spoken Lord Bridges
on the lies of my
n-Stewart, HK Submission of 16 March
THE MINISTER FOR AEROSPACE
and Shipping
cc S.D. Watson
/M... Dept
Debatten 1913
Proposed Hong Kong Register of Shipping
A
19/3
Since you met Mr Y K Pao in December, I and my
officials have been in close and continual touch with the
Hong Kong Government on this subject and their Director of Marine and Deputy Economic Secretary visited us last week for discussions. As a result we have worked out proposals which are summarised in the enclosed consultative document.
These do not go as far as Mr Pao would like in that Masters of ships on the Hong Kong register would still have
to be British subjects and First Mates and Engineers would
have to pass our examinations. However, there is a good prospect that we might achieve greater flexibility in these
respects as a result of negotiations with EEC countries and Norway (referred to in paragraph 8 of the consultative document). European maritime countries traditionally require Masters of ships to be their own nationals and unless we can negotiate changes on a reciprocal basis, we shall be putting British officers at a disadvantage. We also take the view that we cannot give the Hong Kong Director of Marine
authority to determine standards different from our own
regarding safety equipment, crew accommodation and manning for
ships flying the Red Ensign though we propose to delegate much
greater authority to him than at present within the scope of regulations similar to our own (paragraph 4 of the note).
I propose to use the consultative document as my brief when I visit Hong Kong later this week and the Hong Kong Government representatives wish to show it to shipowners there
on a confidential basis before my arrival. We also propose
3.
/shipping
to show it on a confidential basis to both sides of the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.