Ferry passengers complained of being left in the dark after a collision between two Discovery Bay ferries in heavy fog yesterday.
Announcements were only made in Cantonese after the collision which one passenger said left a hole six metres long by 2.5 metres wide in the port side of one ferry. No one was injured.
Regular commuters who do not speak Cantonese voiced fears for their safety in emergency situations on the ferries.
The Marine Department said a Discovery Bay ferry travelling to Central with 286 passengers on board 'made minor contact' at 7.15am with a ferry from the same company - Discovery Bay Transportation Services - carrying 32 passengers from Central to Discovery Bay.
A spokesman said the incident occurred north of Kau Yi Chau near Green Island and was reported to the department at about 8am by a member of the public.
However, one passenger said the impact was far from minor. 'It was full-on. The hole in the Central-bound ferry ran about a third of the length of the ferry. We couldn't see it, but if we had we would definitely have been panicking,' he said.