Other measures are: setting a minimum number of crew required in specific emergency situations, requiring the vessel's name to be printed on every life jacket, and watertight doors with alarms below the main deck to be fitted to the wheelhouse.

The Marine Department said last week it is planning to implement various other improvement measures this year, including enhancing the training of coxswains, requiring coxswains to undergo regular medical examinations, and devising guidelines on rest arrangements of crew.

But Wong of Peng Chau Kaito feared that the measures will just have too few hands to implement them given the manpower shortage facing the industry.

"[The problem] is the evil consequence of the government's acts. Every time we tried to ask for a fare increase, the government would in return ask us to consider the benefit of society as a whole," Wong said.

Having to cope with the pressure of oil prices and maintenance fees, he said that the only way the operators could cut costs was by keeping salaries low.

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An occasional spectator at the trial of two skippers involved in the Lamma tragedy, a former ferry captain who identified himself only as Mr Ho, said his peers often dozed off during their journeys because of their long working hours.

He said that local ferry coxswains in general worked 24 hours on one shift, followed by one day of rest. Some routes provide round-the-clock services, requiring the captain to start at 7am, signing off from his shift the next morning at the same time. Those on other routes spend the night sleeping in their boats doubling up as security guards.

Wong said that with their long working hours, captains could sometimes lack adequate rest that could affect their concentration. As many were also older, there was a risk of them being slower in their response to emergencies, he felt.

He added that it was impossible to change the rosters due to insufficient hands. "If we change to an eight-hour shift, we would have to expand our manpower by two to three times," he added.

Apart from the five immediate measures, the Marine Department also announced in 2013 other medium- and longer-term measures, such as the installation of automatic identification systems (AIS) to track boats.

AIS can transmit information of a ship, including position, direction and speed, to other ships and marine authorities.

Both Wong and Johnny Leung Tak-hing, Star Ferry's general manager, said that the systems did little to help collision avoidance. "The system is only useful for post-collision investigations," Leung said.

Wong said that local skippers had no experience in using the systems, and the government had not mentioned any relevant training programmes.

"It is a waste of public money by installing tracers on each vessel, which makes us look like criminals," Wong said.

He added that ferries that carry more than 100 passengers could receive subsidies of about HK$20,000 if they installed the AIS by January next year.