TNAG-0959-FCO40-1178-Shipping-in-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 49

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would like to be able to repatriate much of his tonnage along with the officers (many of them Taiwanese) he currently employs. It is therefore appropriate

to consider the feasibility and desirability of a separate Hong Kong register.

Feasibility

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So long as Hong Kong remains a dependent territory there can be no question of a separate Hong Kong flag or even of a defaced Red Ensign (even Bermuda flys the undefaced Red Ensign). There is already a precedent (in the setting up of

a separate Bermudian register) for a variation in conditions of registration

under the British flag under the latest Bermudian proposals of which we have

a record a vessel may be registered in Bermuda by a British subject ordinarily

resident in, or a corporate body incorporated in, Bermuda, the UK or a British possession (there is no reference to 'principal place of business) not that

this is being sought here. The consequences of registration also vary. Not all

UK regulations have been extended: the main factor determining the standards

imposed seems to be whether or not the territory wishes ICO safety conventions

to be extended to its ships. From a technical and practical point of view

the main question would appear to be whether Hong Kong has the resources to

cope with the presumed consequence of a separate register: the much larger

number of vessels registered there. For example a much larger number of inspectors

and surveyors will be.required. Hong Kong's marine adminstration is already

stretched because of the amount of work involved in overseeing the vast numbers

of fishing vessels and smaller craft there. No doubt the resources could be obtained

but at a cost which would have to be met at least initially by Hong Kong

(even if fees could later be increased to cover this). (It does not necessarily

follow of course that all Hong Kong beneficially-owned vessels would be repatriated

but the discrepancy between the tonnage registered in Hong Kong and that

registered under flags of convenience is such that even the repatriation of a

modest proportion of the Hong Kong flag of convenience fleet would present immense difficulties for the Colony even if staged over say a five year period.)