Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, 1930, Volume I

585.61B1/5

The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State

Washington, December 21, 1929.

No. 664

Sir: When the International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea met in London in 1913, it was expected that it would be followed and completed by an international conference on the subject of loadline, and a committee was appointed by the President of the British Board of Trade in 1913 to review the whole subject of loadline and prepare a report which would serve as a basis for international discussion and agreement. The intention was that the Safety of Life at Sea Conference should deal with the safety of the passenger ship, with the provision of wireless and with the rules of general navigation, and that a conference on loadline should cover the question of the seaworthiness of the cargo ship.

2. Owing to the war this programme could not be carried out. The Safety of Life at Sea Convention signed in 1914⁷⁰ could not be brought into effect and no steps could be taken to arrange for the international discussion on the question of loadline.

3. The Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea of 1914 has now been revised and expanded into the Convention on Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on May 31st, 1929,⁷¹ and there is good reason to hope that this convention will be generally adopted. In the meantime progress has been made with the subject of loadline, and His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are now in a position to submit proposals for the consideration of foreign maritime Governments.

4. An expert committee was appointed by the President of the British Board of Trade two and a half years ago to review all the work which had previously been done on the subject of loadline, to revise the regulations in force, and to consider certain special problems which had arisen with regard to certain classes of ships. The committee has now produced its report, which is being communicated to the Governments of all maritime States.

5. I have the honour to inform you that I have been instructed by His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, when addressing you in the above sense, to transmit to you the enclosed copies of the committee’s report⁷² and to enquire whether, in the opinion of the United States Government, the report would form a suitable basis for international discussion.

I have [etc.]

Esme Howard

70. British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cviii, pt. 2, p. 283.
71. Treaties, Conventions, etc., 1923–1937, vol. iv, p. 5134; for correspondence concerning the international conference at London, April 16–May 31, 1929, see Foreign Relations, 1929, vol. i, pp. 368 ff.
72. Report of the Committee Appointed by the President of the Board of Trade To Advise on Load Lines of Merchant Ships and Special Load Lines for Steamers Carrying Timber Deck Cargoes and for Tankers (London, His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1929); not reprinted.