INVESTIGATORS in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have promised to hand to prosecutors this week their final report into a collision between two tankers in the Gulf that has kept a Hong Kong captain detained there since March. Captain Terry Lau Chung-hui, 45, has been held without charge in the port city of Dubai since the March 30 accident involving his 293,238-tonne supertanker Seki, managed by local World-Wide Shipping Agency, and the smaller UAE-registered Baynunah. The accident caused the Seki to spill almost 16,000 litres of oil into the Gulf of Oman near the Emirate of Fujairah, damaging the coastline and hurting the local fishing trade. The report, due to have been released last month, was completed several weeks ago but has been delayed for unspecified reasons. The shipping agency's lawyer, however, was told the report would be in the hands of prosecutors on December 22, a World-Wide spokesman said. The investigation was launched to establish blame in order for criminal charges to be laid and so civil damages could proceed against the ship-owners. Civil proceedings are already in progress between the two tanker owners. It is understood the report has found the Seki, which was stationary at the time, was struck at a 90-degree angle by the Baynunah, causing major damage. Captain Lau, a permanent Hong Kong resident and full British passport holder, was detained along with Baynunah captain Donald Shields, also a British subject. In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Captain Lau criticised authorities for holding him without charge and for keeping him from his family for so long. The World-Wide spokesman said the captain's two daughters and his wife, Sabina Tan, would be with him for Christmas. World-Wide has asked British Government officials to press UAE rulers for Captain Lau's release.
