Bad visibility in busy route likely cause of collision, says expert

The waters off The Brothers islands where two vessels collided are part of one of the busiest navigation routes between Hong Kong and the mainland, but they are not a black spot, veteran seamen said yesterday.

Hong Kong Seamen's Union vice-chairman Wong Kwok-kin said the navigation route, midway between the airport and Tuen Mun, was 'very busy' as it was used by many vessels travelling between Hong Kong and the mainland's western ports, such as Shenzhen and Shekou .

Mr Wong said he did not think the collision would have had anything to do with the strong current in the area at the time. 'The two vessels are not small boats. The chance [that the accident was caused by the strong current] is very slim.'

Instead, Mr Wong said, the collision might have been the result of bad visibility and poor communication between the two vessels.

An Observatory spokeswoman said that at about 9pm on Saturday, when the accident occurred, it was cloudy and misty in the area, with a few rain patches. Visibility was about 1km to 2km. She said the rainfall had worsened visibility, but it had not been foggy.

'[Most of] the seamen on the supply boat are from Central Europe, and those on the cargo ship were mainlanders. They might have had some misunderstandings with each other when communicating in English,' Mr Wong said.

He said that having been thrown into the water, the seamen had a very slim chance of being rescued. 'They would probably freeze to death as people lose body heat quickly in water.'