Lamma ferry disaster report shell-shocks Marine Department staff

Morale among some Marine Department staff is so low after severe criticism of their role in the Lamma ferry disaster that they are like "birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring", according to retired department official Wong Chi-kin.

Wong, who is seeking a judicial review of the findings of the inquiry that heavily criticised the department, said some "have even lost their work motivation".

The commission of inquiry into last year's collision between a ferry and a launch off Lamma Island that killed 39 people said it was "astonished and deeply dismayed" to learn that the department had not fully enforced a key regulation concerning life jackets.

Wong, who has prematurely terminated his contract with the department to launch the review, said the department had failed to defend its staff against the criticism. The department should launch a review itself if it deemed that there was something wrong in the report, he added.

Wong, a former general manager of its local vessels safety branch and a 32-year department veteran, retired in 2011, but returned as a consultant after the disaster.

Relatives of the victims, meanwhile, criticised Wong's application, saying that some department staff should be held responsible for the tragedy.