TNAG-2308-FCO40-3345-Future-of-Hong-Kong-shipping-register-1991 — Page 184

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6.

The Flag

6.1

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 includes the following:-

Article 91

Nationality of Ships

Every State shall fix the conditions for the grant of its nationality to ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and for the right to fly its flag. Ships have the nationality of the State whose flag they are entitled to fly. There must exist a genuine link between the State and the ship.

Every State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the right to fly its flag documents to that effect.

Article 92

Status of Ships

Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only

and, save in exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in this Convention, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of registry.

A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a ship without nationality.

6.2

Registry of a merchant ship entitles the ship to fly the flag of the registry state. The flag should identify the state which has the responsibility for the control and regulation of that ship.

6.3

Following the creation of a separate and autonomous Hong Kong register, it would be appropriate for ships on the Hong Kong Register to be identifiable as such. Arrangements may thus need to be introduced whereby a flag or flags should indicate both the nationality of the ship and the fact that it is on the Hong Kong register.

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