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Tow rope may have cost trapped teenager's life

A ROPE may have cost the life of a teenage boy trapped in the hull of an overturned boat, the Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Frustrated divers said they could hear 15-year-old Cheng Kin-shing knocking on the vessel's inner surface, but were unable to reach him through a wall of debris.

The court heard that Stephen Allen and Nigel Griffiths had just begun to clear the debris when the boat suddenly shook to and fro in ''an unnatural motion''. The movement was caused by a tow rope linking the vessel to a Marine Department launch, to stop it drifting.

The launch, pulling against the tug of ocean currents, was tightening the line and putting pressure on the stricken boat.

''The impression was that we were actually being towed. The effect was to tilt the vessel over to port slightly and it caused the vessel to start taking on water,'' Mr Allen said.

He told the court the boat had been stable until that point, contradicting the testimony of earlier witnesses, who had testified that the boat was sinking. ''I don't believe in this situation it would have become unstable if it hadn't been attached to aline keeping it from drifting.'' Mr Allen said two other options might have saved the boy's life. The boat would most likely have remained buoyant and stable if it had been allowed to simply drift with the current, he said.

Or, he added, attempts could have been made to stabilise the vessel.

Earlier in the day the court heard that Senior Inspector Chan Kam-fai had tried to do just that.

The inspector said he had decided to run ropes under the stricken vessel to prevent it sinking any further.

But a senior Fire Services official told him to abandon the plan, claiming there was no real danger of the boat sinking rapidly.

Mr Allen testified that, had the boat remained stable, divers would have been able to dig through the debris for two hours at a stretch.

''Eventually we would have gained entrance,'' he said.

The diver said he believed the compartment Kin-shing was trapped in was full of air - enough to support him for a long time.

''Keeping him alive was not the problem,'' he said. ''It was a question of time. We ran out of time.'' The victim's mother said she wanted the court to know that her son had been a strong swimmer, and would have struggled for as long as his air supply allowed.

The fishing boat set out from Tsuen Wan on July 15 last year with about five tonnes of cargo lashed to its decks.

The court heard that mild seas had turned turbulent as the boat neared Stonecutters Island. Then two catamarans and a hoverferry passed close by, catching the fishing boat in their wake. For a moment, the fishing vessel rolled back and forth, riding thebloated waves. Then it capsized.

Cheng Kin-shing's cousins - Cheng Wai-hung and Cheng Mei-fong - were able to swim to safety.

On Monday, crane operator Chan Ming had testified that his crane had pulled the boat on to its side. But Mr Allen said it was pure coincidence the crane had been present when the boat turned.

By the time Mr Chan arrived, shifting caused by the weight on the tow line had pushed the boat ''past the point of no return''.

Mr Allen added that the accident might not have happened in the first place if the little boat had not been straining under five tonnes of cargo.

The inquest continues.

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