Latest news with #CheoyLeeShipyards
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Inspectors did not need to look for ship flaws, Hong Kong disaster probe told
A former Marine Department official has maintained at a court inquest into one of Hong Kong's deadliest maritime disasters that he and his colleagues were not obliged to detect structural flaws during regular ship inspections. Retired principal ship surveyor Wong Chi-kin told the Coroner's Court on Friday that department staff would only inspect specific items on a vessel 'by intuition' without looking for possible defects. Wong said ship inspectors would not have realised that the lack of a watertight door in between two underdeck rooms of the Lamma IV passenger ferry was a mistake which subsequently contributed to its rapid sinking after a collision with another vessel in 2012, as they would normally overlook matters not drawn to their attention before inspections. 'Formally, we only looked at what was required of us,' the witness said. 'It could be possible that [an inspector] found out [a structural defect] himself, but most of them would just walk past and ignore it.' Wong also defended his decision to approve what appeared to be a self-contradictory drawing of the Lamma IV that indicated an access opening was to be introduced between two supposedly watertight hull compartments at the stern. Instead, he blamed the Lamma IV's manufacturer, Cheoy Lee Shipyards, for failing to notify the department about opening the hatch without installing a watertight door, which violated official survey protocols.
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong marine officials missed ferry design flaw, disaster inquiry hears
Two Marine Department officials have told a court inquest that they failed to notice a design flaw in a ferry involved in one of Hong Kong's deadliest maritime disasters as they thought they were not required to look for such issues during periodical check-ups. The Coroner's Court on Monday heard oral evidence from three current and former ship inspectors who were involved in checks on the Lamma IV between 1997 and 2009 before it collided with another ferry and sank on October 1, 2012. The Lamma IV was hit by the Sea Smooth ferry in the waters off Lamma Island while carrying 124 HK Electric employees and their relatives to watch National Day fireworks over Victoria Harbour. The Lamma Island-bound Sea Smooth, operated by Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry, was able to continue its journey to Yung Shue Wan Pier, but the Lamma IV sank in less than two minutes, leading to 39 deaths. The court previously heard that the Lamma IV's initial design from 1995 involved six compartments on the underdeck, with the steering gear compartment and the tank room at the stern separated by a watertight bulkhead. The ferry sank in less than two minutes. Photo: Handout Lo Ngok-ying, a director at Cheoy Lee Shipyards which built the Lamma IV, later decided to introduce a hatch connecting the two rooms without a watertight door to comply with what he thought was a legal requirement on the minimal size of underdeck rooms.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Ex-ship worker failed to check safety data for sunk Hong Kong ferry, court hears
A former engineering manager at the company that built a ferry involved in one of Hong Kong's deadliest maritime disasters has admitted during a court inquest that he failed to ensure the accuracy of the vessel's safety data submitted to the government. Advertisement Cheung Chuen-yau made the comment while testifying at the Coroner's Court on Friday, the fourth day of what is expected to be a 60-day inquiry into a 2012 maritime disaster that left 39 people dead. Cheung told the court that he was responsible for ensuring the Lamma IV's 'damage stability', which refers to a vessel's ability to stay afloat after sustaining damage, was correctly measured before seeking the Marine Department's approval to modify the ship in 1998 and 2005. But the former Cheoy Lee Shipyards worker said he had done nothing but put his faith in his junior colleagues' calculations, which were generated using software that he admitted he was unsure how to use. He also said he had never seen the Lamma IV's layout plans, let alone the discrepancies in some of them about whether a bulkhead separating two of the lower deck's compartments needed to be watertight. Advertisement The Lamma IV's hull was damaged by the Sea Smooth passenger ferry in the waters off Lamma Island while carrying 124 HK Electric employees and their relatives to watch the National Day fireworks over Victoria Harbour on October 1, 2012.
