TNAG-1314-FCO40-1696-Working-papers-for-use-at-talks-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 40

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Such a scheme would enable all categories of ships linked

with the Islands to have full access to Convention

-certificates, and would ensure that all ships registered

in the British Islands are subject to the same safety

standards. It is of course for the Island Governments

to consider which of the alternatives suits best their

requirements and those of their shipowners.

VII.

PROVISIONAL REGISTRATION

34. Under Section 22 of the 1894 Act a provisional

certificate of registration may be granted to a ship by

a British Consular Officer. This certificate expires

after a period of six months or when the ship arrives at

a port where there is a registrar, whichever happens first,

but there is nothing to prevent the ship being provisionally

registered again after the expiry of the first certificate.

The Government believes that there is a need to retain

a provisional registration facility for ships purchased

abroad by British shipowners, but the present system is

open to abuse, first because it enables an unsafe ship

to sail under the British flag for six months without

any survey and secondly because this cheap and convenient

method of acquiring British nationality for a ship abroad

could be exploited for criminal purposes. There have been

cases of serious casualties and drug smuggling by

provisionally registered ships. In practice, provisional

registration is used infrequently, and where subsequently

full. registration is taken out this is usually achieved

within a month.

Moreover with the new centralised registration

procedures in the UK it will be possible for shipowners

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