Sea Smooth’s late turn made in panic: expert
Naval captain says skipper took fatal turn to the left, and that Lamma IV captain lurched right just seven seconds before crash
A late action taken by the coxswain of Sea Smooth was an act of "last-minute panic" rather than a conscious attempt at averting a collision, a naval expert said yesterday.
Captain Nigel Pryke was appearing at the commission of inquiry into the National Day sea tragedy that killed 39 people for the third time, after hearing evidence from the coxswains of both vessels involved in the collision.
"I think the action taken [by Sea Smooth coxswain Lai Sai-ming] was just so late that it wasn't a practical collision-avoidance action. It was just a last minute panic," he said.
Lai earlier said he had made a starboard turn to avoid colliding with Lamma IV.
However, Pryke said he maintained the view expressed in his first expert report, that Lai had made a wrong turn to port side - which he described as a "fatal manoeuvre".
Lamma IV’s skipper Chow Chi-wai said earlier that he made full turn to starboard about 30 seconds before the collision with the public ferry Sea Smooth.