I refer to the letter from Standard Boat Service Co Ltd (South China Morning Post, September 25), which explained how their boat number 32106 spread oil and water in the waters to the west of Lamma.
The company stated that whilst their vessel was moving astern 'water in the bilge where the engine is located flowed out, carrying traces of lube oil'. This I find most strange.
For liquid to rise up from a boat's bilge and leave through pipes and valves, it would have to be pumped. Any pumping action would require someone to start the pump.
If the liquid contained oil, it should not have been discharged into the sea, this is pollution. Beneath the boat's engine should be a drip tray to collect any leaking oil.
Clearly, this was a pleasure craft and it is always advisable for people to charter a launch or ferry vessel, which is licensed to carry passengers and subject to far more stringent checks than a pleasure craft.
Could I ask if Standard Boat Service Co Ltd, in chartering out its vessel, informed the Director of Marine of this charter, as required by the Merchant Shipping (Pleasure Vessels) Regulations (CAP. 313 sub. leg. G) para 6.(1) (a)? D. A. TAYLOR Co-author Pleasure Craft Handbook
