OMG, how sad... http://i.Dramasian.com/forum/images/smilies/tear.gif The death toll is sure to go up as many remain missing and are suspected to have been entrapped underwater in one of the ships. Authorities there have arrested several crew members from both boats on suspicion of not operating each vessel in accordance with safety regulations. http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/world/2012/10/01/wr-ramy-inocencio-ferry-collision.cnn http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19797588 Pictures here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19790979 [video=youtube;wMwYFpD4clM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwYFpD4clM[/video] [video=youtube;iBiGpVrEPaY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBiGpVrEPaY[/video] [video=youtube;OxM84YFh_Rg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxM84YFh_Rg[/video]
Such a tragic, this type of incident has happened before. The narrow harbour really cant handle that much boats
my regards to those who were affected by this. it's crazy to think my friend abroad was on this ferry but at a different time.
Hong Kong's waterways are probably one of the world's busiest and in fact, has some of the strictest maritime regulations; their harbor enforcement people are top notch. They have to be, else given the congested and complicated choreograph of its shipping, we would otherwise see collisions like this several times a day. As it is, IMHO this mishap was an anomaly. I don't know if anyone else here has ever rode on the Lamma Island Ferry, but for decades, it has been one of the most widely traveled water routes where at least half of the island's residents commute to HK-Kowloon daily. I personally believe it to be one of the safest ferry trips in the world. My suspicions lies with the unexpected presence of the sightseeing charter, reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed. I suspect also that complacency of the ferry crew may have play a part; they just didn't expect another boat of their size at that time of night to be plying those waters, even as they knew to watch for other vessels as a matter of navigational routine. This event recalls another boat tragedy in New York several years ago; the ship's master was reportedly on multiple pain killers and had fallen asleep at the controls. Instead of docking, the ferry that he was piloting drove full speed into an adjoining maintenance pier, crushing the side of the vessel. Eleven people were killed and over seventy were injured, many quite seriously. New York City was faulted for not following its own maritime rules of having a mandatory second deck officer within the control room at all times whist a ferry vessel was docking. It was obvious to me that complacency (by both NYC and the ferry crew) played a major role then as I suspect that it did now in HK. As I always tell my kids; there is little in the world which counts truly as "accidents" that upon review, cannot be assigned instead to lack of forethought. My thinking is, operators on both boats got careless, and it wound up cost them dearly.
