Both Lamma ferry disaster captains broke rules, inquiry told
British maritime expert says Sea Smooth captain made decision that was ‘worse than doing nothing’ , while both skippers breached safety rules
Both captains broke safety rules in the Lamma ferry disaster, but the skipper of Sea Smooth made a wrong turn that was "even worse than doing nothing", the commission of inquiry was told yesterday.
British maritime expert Captain Nigel Pryke said: "The most significant cause of the collision was poor navigation by the coxswain of Sea Smooth. There were also contributory failings by the coxswain of Lamma IV."
His report suggested that Sea Smooth captain Lai Sai-ming allegedly made seven breaches of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, while Chow Chi-wai, skipper of the Lamma IV, made three.
A contributing factor was that Lai was alone on the bridge when the collision happened, having allowed three other crew members to take a rest without instructing them to keep a lookout, the report said. Chow also failed to read the radar.
According to the regulations, when there is a risk of a head-on collision between two power-driven vessels, both should alter course to starboard.
But Sea Smooth made a 16 degree turn to port - "a serious contravention" of the rule - and did not alert Lamma IV. "[This] is even worse than doing nothing," Pryke said.
Lamma IV made a 13 degree turn to starboard, but rocks near Shek Kok Tsui - the northwestern tip of Lamma - limited the space for it to make the turn.