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Prosecution witness Dr Cheng Yuk-ki. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Lamma IV skipper said he had been rammed by ferry, Hong Kong manslaughter trial hears

Message was sent to captain of another HK Electric vessel carrying fireworks sightseers

Thomas Chan

Hongkong Electric's Lamma IV informed a sister launch that it had been rammed by a passenger ferry, Sea Smooth, minutes after departing from the typhoon shelter on Lamma Island, a manslaughter trial involving two skippers heard yesterday.

Shortly after leaving the shelter behind the Lamma IV, Cheng Muk-hee, captain of the Lamma II, recalled receiving a call from skipper Chow Chi-wai through a radio link saying: "Muk-hee, I have been struck by a Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry vessel."

Cheng said yesterday: "I asked him what happened but there was no reply."

Both vessels were carrying Hongkong Electric staff and their families on an excursion to view the fireworks display over Victoria Harbour on October 1, 2012.

Asked by prosecutor Andrew Bruce SC to describe what the Sea Smooth was doing at the time he first noticed it after the collision, Cheng replied: "When I first saw it, it was not moving at all. And she slowly moved away … and travelled towards Yung Shue Wan pier."

The High Court heard that the Lamma II, which was about 600 to 700 metres away from the Lamma IV as it sank, rescued at least 17 injured passengers.

Meanwhile, government chemist Dr Cheng Yuk-ki, a prosecution witness, disagreed with barrister Gerard McCoy SC's suggestion that the withdrawal of the Sea Smooth had the effect of enlarging the original entry hole in the Lamma IV. McCoy represents Chow.

McCoy said: "The extended, irregular, long, jagged gash and hole, and very deep penetration lead to the conclusion that the exit from the Lamma IV by the Sea Smooth made the original entry hole bigger." Cheng, however, disagreed.

Earlier, the court heard McCoy describe the crash and separation of the two vessels as "plug and unplug". Cheng said during re-examination by the prosecution that there was no evidence that the Sea Smooth "took on her initiative to carry out the action of reversing".

Cheng also agreed with Audrey Campbell-Moffat SC, for Sea Smooth captain Lai Sai-ming, that the gash on the Lamma IV was created by the Sea Smooth's forward movement.

Chow, 58, and Lai, 56, have each denied 39 counts of manslaughter and two counts of endangering the safety of others at sea. The trial continues today.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: 'Lamma IV skipper said he had been rammed'
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