TNAG-1514-FCO40-2072-Shipping-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 18

in aggregate dwt terms. They include civil supply of the dependent

territories, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland,

and the islands off the Scottish coast. Requirements have also been

established for coasters, tugs and light craft (mooring vessels,

light store and passenger-carrying vessels) in support of working

anchorages, for tankers to provide bunkering facilities at those

anchorages, and for vessels to operate temporary container discharge

facilities.

Sources of Shipping

9 The sources and machinery for providing the shipping to meet

the defence and civil needs described above are partly national,

partly NATO.

NATO Plans

10 During the Second World War UK access to the merchant shipping

controlled by our Allies was critical to the civil supply of the UK

and the Commonwealth. In the early post-war years the leading

for

western ship-owning countries agreed that the arrangements

co-operation that had been developed during the War should form a

continuing basis for defence planning for merchant shipping. This

led to the concept of a NATO pool of merchant shipping under the

control of a Defence Shipping Authority (DSA) from which ships would

be allocated in war in the overall interests of the Alliance.

principles underlying the operation of this pool are set out in the

annex.

The

UK Resources and Allocation

11 The United Kingdom would like other members of the Alliance