Expert questions damage assessment after Lamma collision

Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Sea Smooth left the scene of the National Day collision without carrying out a proper damage assessment, an expert witness told a manslaughter trial yesterday.

Cross-examined by defence counsel James Turner QC, captain Cheung Hon-yee, a prosecution witness, said: "The vessel should have stopped completely to do the damage assessment. That could not be done while it was sailing."

Turner is representing Chow Chi-wai, the Lamma IV skipper.

The court heard that about eight minutes after the collision, two years ago, the Sea Smooth arrived at the Yung Shue Wan pier on Lamma Island, according to marine police's radar data.

Barrister Audrey Campbell-Moffat SC, for Sea Smooth captain Lai Sai-ming, said the front part of the vessel's left hull was ripped away in the collision.

The court heard that the Sea Smooth had tilted to port by 2.5 degrees.

She said that a captain on the bridge could feel "the level of change as water is flooding in the compartment".