A jetfoil accident that left one person dead and more than 100 injured happened on a route being used for the first time in three years, an inquest heard yesterday.
Macau-bound jetfoil Flores had taken an old route because strong head winds along the regular route prevented it from accelerating, its captain told the Coroner's Court.
Ten minutes after leaving Victoria Harbour on May 2 last year, the back of the Far East Jetfoils vessel hit the tip of a shipwreck while travelling at 40 knots.
Captain Choi Chee-kit said the wreck was about 370 metres from the position indicated on the sea chart.
Fisherman Chan Ma-sing described the wreck, which lay in mainland waters, as sticking 60cm to one metre out of the water.
It had not been marked by a beacon for four or five years, he said.
Survivor Cheung Chi-ngai said she heard a 'great bang'.
