The Red Duster

UOTE=j.sabourn;188243]John I still maintain if they are flying the Red Ensign and registered in Bermuda they are required by the old law to fly the flag of the country of registry. Flag etiquette is nothing like it used to be and if these ships are flying a straight red ensign then the authorities are turning a blind eye to it. The time you were at sea if a ship entered port not flying its ensign there was a fine of 5 pounds. It is rare to see a cargo ship enter port now flying anything apart from dirty washing, This bit about the red ensign and the colonies or such is being misused or there has been a change of law. One of the last deep sea ships I was on was Registered in Gibralter, flew the red ensign with the symbol of whatever it was on the fly, not the straight red ensign. As I said I was recently on a NZ ferry in NZ, she was registered in Portsmouth and flew the Red Ensign and not the Kiwi flag. Says something when the likes of NZ know more about flag etiquette than the Brits. You will get passengers believing anything they are told by ships staff who are trying to build up business for their company, used to call them good company men at one time, believe it or not I was one also until I saw the light. That was when the redundencies started coming in and pensions that had never existed but were supposed to have been there. Cheers JS[/QUOTE]

Johnt I can see your point of it but the fact is they are acting under the law as it stands. I agree it is wrong but like so many others that are wrong until someone stops it the practice will continue.