Marine Department officials are still trying to work out how an 87-metre vessel ran aground on one of Hong Kong's best known shipping hazards but say it is in no danger of sinking.
The river trader Zhong Fu Fa Zhan, carrying soil and sand, has been stranded on the Adamasta Rock in the middle of a busy channel between Lantau and Cheung Chau since Sunday.
Although the Adamasta channel is a crowded seaway, carrying 24-hour high-speed ferry traffic between Kong Kong, Macau and mainland cities, the department said the vessel of 2,765 gross tonnes was not a hazard to other shipping. Half of its cargo had been removed and divers had been sent to inspect damage to the bottom of the vessel.
A spokesman said: 'The vessel is listing to its starboard, but it is stable. There is no risk of sinking. Vessels travelling in the channel have to run near the coastlines of Cheung Chau and Lantau. So the river trade vessel [in the middle of the channel] does not affect marine traffic.'
The rock, which is under water at high tide, has a beacon on top and lights on either side.
The spokesman said it was not known how the vessel ran aground but the possibility of human error was being investigated.