Hong Kong airport bridge collision: Tug captain 'may have ignored height limit'
Source close to investigation says height of crane and high tide may have contributed to collision, which closed access to the airport
The captain of a tugboat involved in last Friday's incident on the Kap Shui Mun Bridge - which blocked access to the airport - may have ignored the structure's height limit even though he allegedly knew the broken-down crane on board could not be lowered due to a mechanical problem, the Post has learned.
Initial investigations showed the crane and the barge it was on was about three metres higher than the height restriction of 41 metres for vessels passing under the bridge, according to one source with knowledge of the investigation.
He said the crane, which has a maximum height of 43 metres, was tilted slightly to 41 metres, and the barge's hull rose about three metres above sea level.
But he said the barge would not have hit the bridge because its actual clearance was 47 metres. "Unluckily, they might not have taken into account the high tide that caused the water level to rise nearly two metres," the source said.
"In addition, waves also prompted the barge to go up and down about one metre," he said.