Lamma IV coxswain 'made full turn' to avoid Sea Smooth

The coxswain of the sunken Lamma IV said he made a full starboard turn when he saw the Sea Smooth ferry approaching a minute before the vessels collided, a commission of inquiry into the National Day tragedy heard.

But the radar record shows the vessel turned just five degrees. Thirty-nine people died in the disaster on October 1.

Chow Chi-wai also said he first saw Sea Smooth on the radar, but the public ferry's lawyer suggested Chow had "invented" the story for the inquiry, as it contradicted his previous statements to the Marine Department.

Chow told the inquiry yesterday morning that he had seen Sea Smooth on the radar, about one minute before the collision, then visually saw it "dead ahead". He said he immediately took action by making a full starboard (right) turn. He then switched off the engine to minimise impact when he recognised it was too late.

But Charles Sussex SC, for the owner and crew of Sea Smooth, noted in the afternoon session that the radar record showed Lamma IV shifted course by only five degrees in the minute before the crash. "The gradual change of course to starboard … was a navigational manoeuvre, and was not a collision avoidance manoeuvre," he said.