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Lai Sai-Ming (left) is escorted from court. Photo: David Wong

Update | Families of Lamma ferry disaster victims protest skippers' 'lenient' sentences

Families slam 'lenient' sentences as Lamma IV captain gets nine months

Thomas Chan

One of the two skippers held responsible for the Lamma ferry tragedy was sentenced by a High Court judge to eight years in jail yesterday and the other to nine months.

But even as Mr Justice Brian Keith acknowledged the "unimaginable grief" of the bereaved families, several of them protested at what they felt were lenient sentences for the two found guilty over their roles in the 2012 collision that claimed 39 lives.

Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry's Sea Smooth coxswain Lai Sai-ming was jailed for eight years for manslaughter and endangering the safety of others at sea, while Hongkong Electric's Lamma IV captain Chow Chi-wai got nine months for endangering others at sea.

On hearing the news, photographer Ryan Tsui Chi-shing, who lost his elder brother Tsui Chi-wai and niece Tsui Hoi-ying, 10, in the collision, said that the jail terms were "too lenient".

"[Lai] should at least be jailed for each of the 39 lives lost," he said, asking the Department of Justice to launch an appeal.

Irene Cheng, whose son Thomas Koo Man-cheung died in the October 1 disaster, said Chow's sentence in particular showed too much mercy.

In his judgment, Keith told 56-year-old Lai: "This was not a minor error of judgment on your part, nor was it a momentary lapse of attention.

"Your conduct that night fell way below the standard of profession that could reasonably be expected of a mariner navigating a fast ferry in the busy waters of Hong Kong."

Watch: Lamma ferry disaster: the deadliest boat accident in Hong Kong in 40 years

The trial heard that the catamaran made a "deadly turn to port", violating international collision regulations, before colliding with the Lamma IV which was taking passengers to view the National Day fireworks display.

The criticism of 58-year-old Chow's navigation that night was, meanwhile, very limited, and related only to his failure to react when the Sea Smooth turned left, Keith said.

"The danger here was created primarily by what Lai Sai-ming did. Your culpability arose only because of your failure to react quickly enough to a wholly unexpected manoeuvre by another vessel," he added.

Keith expressed his condolences to those who lost family members in the tragedy after the pair were taken to the cells.

"No one can begin to understand the indescribable pain that they must have suffered," Keith said. "I hope the outcome of this trial may go, if only a little way, towards enabling them to move on to the next phase of their lives."

The pair's lawyers declined to indicate if they would appeal.

Cheng told an RTHK radio programme on Tuesday that she hoped Marine Department officials would be prosecuted for failing to take measures that could have prevented the tragedy.

Irene Cheng called for Marine Department officials to be prosecuted. Photo: Edward Wong

She said the navigating conduct of the two captains was only part of the problem. The broader issue concerned why the department had approved the Lamma IV to sail, when it was later found to be lacking a watertight door and life-saving equipment onboard.

“Ultimately I want to know why the vessel with all the equipment not in place could have got a licence to sail,” she said. ”If it was stopped at this stage the lives could have been saved.”

Cheng also said families are hoping that an investigation report by the Transport and Housing Bureau on the Marine Department could be released to them soon.

Legislator James To Kun-sun said the department had promised to allow lawmakers to view the report last September. But it had not done so yet, he said.

Cheng said the families would contact Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung to discuss viewing the report.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Ferry crash skipper jailed for 8 years
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