IAN Watson, the controversial master of the pleasure junk Long Boat, which was involved in a fatal Lunar New Year collision with a ferry in Victoria Harbour three years ago, has died from a heart attack after trying to stop a pub brawl.
In a bizarre coincidence, Mr Watson, 56, who was also the owner of the Old China Hand bar in Wan Chai, died in New Zealand on Friday night just as Lunar New Year celebrations began in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the accident.
Mr Watson, who was at the helm of the chartered boat which collided with the ferry Man Loy and claimed the lives of two expatriates, had gone to New Zealand to escape being reminded of the tragedy.
Journalist Edward Donoghue, 31, lost both his legs in the accident on February 16, 1991, and died five days later in hospital. The body of John McDowell, a 34-year-old architect, was washed ashore 11 days later after the tragedy.
The master of the Man Loy, Chui Yung-kan, was acquitted of endangering life at sea and of two counts of manslaughter in a resulting court case which started in December 1992.
Mr Watson, who was fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to endangering life at sea, was at the helm of the Long Boat when it was involved in a near head-on crash with the Man Loy.