EXPATRIATE civil servants and the Government have failed to come up with a solution to the dispute over moves to abolish the retirement perk of a sea passage on the luxury liner Canberra. Two new alternatives have been proposed by the administration, including retaining the sea passage but freezing the cost at current prices, or making an unspecified ex-gratia payment to replace the cruise. The deputy secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fan, said the staff side had rejected the suggestions. With the 21/2-month talks deadlocked, the Civil Service Branch will seek legislators' advice on its next move. The current discussions were ordered by the Legislative Council's Finance Committee after councillors decided in early November against approving the Government's proposal to scrap the sea passage. Represented by the Association of Expatriate Civil Servants, the staff side maintained that the new offer by the administration was only an abbreviated version of the perks and was therefore unacceptable, association chairman Mr Royston Griffey said. The staff side was prepared to consider an option under which the Government would retain the sea passage while considering ways to reduce the take-up rate. Mr Griffey doubted the acceptability of an unspecified ex-gratia payment. The Government's original submission to the Finance Committee in November envisaged making a payment of $13,110 to the officers, in addition to air fares, to replace the cruise. The new payment option, outlined in a letter sent to the association on December 10, proposed that the amount be reduced in proportion to the number of officers who exercised an option to retain the cruise perk. In his reply to the Government, Mr Griffey said: ''If it is seriously intended to induce staff to surrender their entitlement, then an immediate payment is more likely to succeed than a vague promise of an unspecified [uncertain] amount at an uncertain future date.'' He was unhappy that the Government had not replied to his offer of discussions, made in a December 29 letter to the branch. Mrs Law said her branch would soon approach the Legco public service panel to seek advice on how to resolve the problem.