Hong Kong intends to provide block registration incentives to entice more shipowners to register their vessels in the territory as it continues to buttress its status as an international shipping hub.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said on Thursday that it plans to have the city's Merchant Shipping Regulations amended to implement the Block Registration Incentive Scheme in the Hong Kong Shipping Registry (HKSR). 

Under the incentive program, if more than one eligible ship is registered with the HKSR within 24 months, the owners of the ships may be provided with a refund of the ship registration fee and the first-year annual tonnage charge.

One application may cover ships of different owners and may be submitted by a shipowner, ship manager or ship agent.

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"The HKSR is renowned for both its quality and quantity. Hong Kong-registered ships rank as the fourth largest in the world in terms of gross tonnage,” said a spokesperon of the Transport and Logistics Bureau.

The spokesperson noted that the Port State Control detention rate of Hong Kong-registered ships is only 0.81 percent, which is significantly lower than the world average of 3.39 percent, reflecting the high degree of safety and reliability of the Hong Kong fleet.

“Even though the current registration fee of the HKSR is highly competitive, we have noticed that some other major flag states and administrations have already rolled out block registration incentives,” the spokesperson said.

“We thus deem it necessary to launch a similar scheme in Hong Kong, with a view to further strengthening the HKSR's competitiveness and fostering our leading position among shipping registries in the world.

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The HKSAR government said it has consulted shipping industry stakeholders on the program, and the trade has expressed support.

The proposed legislative amendments will be tabled at the Legislative Council on Dec 18 for negative vetting, with the target implementation date on Feb 14, 2025.