580.7A3/693
The British Chargé (Osborne) to the Secretary of State
No. 247
Washington, August 8,
1932.
Sir: I have the honour to refer to your Note No. 580.7A3/681[683] of June 25th last regarding the Revised Collision Regulations forming Annex II of the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed at London in 1929 and, under instructions from His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to state that His Majesty’s representatives in the countries concerned have been instructed to address to the Governments to which they are accredited a communication in the following sense.
- 2.
- The great majority of the maritime countries have accepted the proposals of His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom concerning the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, though a few countries have not signified their assent, and the United States, while accepting the suggested additional amendments to the revised Regulations, are unable at present to state when they will be ready to bring the amended Regulations into operation.
- 3.
- In the opinion of His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom it would be unwise, having regard to considerations of safety of navigation for the countries which have already agreed to the above-mentioned proposals, to bring the amended Regulations into operation until such time as it is possible to arrange for them to be adopted almost universally.
- 4.
- His Majesty’s Government therefore suggest that the revised Regulations should not be brought into operation by any country until a date later than the 1st January, 1933, which will be recommended by His Majesty’s Government as soon as they feel confident that their recommendation is likely to be generally acceptable.
- 5.
- The revised text of the Regulations (embodying the various additional amendments already agreed to) will be circulated to all the countries concerned at an early date.
I have [etc.]
D. G. Osborne