NOTE NO:
The British Embassy present their compliments to the Department
of State and have the honour to refer to the Department's Note
about the Agreement Regarding Financial Support of the North Atlantic Ice Patrol signed at Washington on 4 January 1956.
The Embassy notes the conclusions of the review of the Agreement
and concurs with the Department's view that no amendments are
currently required. The Embassy notes with regret the denunciation of the Agreement by Liberia. This will result in higher costs being borne by other Governments Parties to the
Agreement.
The Embassy agrees with the Department's proposal to invite the Governments of some of the non-contributing beneficiary States to
accept the Agreement under the terms of Article 10. The Embassy believes that the Department has recognised the error of including the British Dependent Territories in the list of
non-contributing beneficiaries and that accordingly no such invitation will be issued to the UK in respect of these
Territories.
The Embassy would like to point out that under Article 2 of the
Agreement the provisions cannot be applied to British Dependent
Territories not covered by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1948 (SOLAS 48), (now superceded by SOLAS 74). The UK has extended SOLAS 74 to Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the Isle of Man and accordingly accepts responsibilities for charges levied on vessels on those
registries. Should the UK extend SOLAS 74 to any of its other Dependencies in the future the UK will at that time automatically assume responsibility for the contributions of the Dependencies
concerned.
The British Embassy avail themselves of this opportunity to
express to the Department of State the assurance of their highest
consideration.
OUTABD
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