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The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, together with the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok; the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man; and representatives of relevant departments, held a press conference this afternoon (October 2) on the vessel collision incident near Lamma Island. Following is the transcript of remarks at the press conference:
Reporter: Regarding the investigation, you've arrested the six for endangering another person at sea. Can you just elaborate on how you think they endangered the other people? Were they speeding, or were they not using their navigation equipment?
Commissioner of Police, Mr Tsang Wai-hung: From the investigation so far, we've come to the suspicion that the crew responsible for manning the two vessels have not exercised the care required of them by law to ensure the safety of the vessels that they are navigating as well as the people on board their vessels. It is on this basis that they have been arrested to assist police enquiries. At the moment, we have arrested totally six persons. We expect further persons to be arrested. Our investigation will continue. The investigation will focus on criminal liability, as well as to assist the Coroner's Court if a death inquest is to be held. Thank you.
Reporter: I'd like to ask Mr C Y more about the inquiry that you are going to set up. Can you tell us more about the committee you are going to set up to look into this, and will there be prevention measures taken to prevent something like this happening in the future? And my other question is: When will the search and rescue stop, since we do not know exactly how many are missing?
Chief Executive: Sorry, I missed the second question. Could you repeat it, please?
Reporter: When will we stop the search and rescue? When will the search and rescue effort stop, since we don't know how many are missing?
Chief Executive: OK, could I ask my colleague to my left, the Director of Fire Services, to answer the second question? I'll answer your first question first. The decision will be made to appoint a commission of inquiry by the Chief Executive in Council, and as soon as that decision is made, the Government will make a full announcement about details including the terms of reference and appointees.
Director of Fire Services, Mr Chan Chor-kam: The ferry vessel would be lifted up, will be raised away from the water, and we will turn it upright and we will do the final search on board the wreckage. After that, we will do some underwater search as well as surface search. It is expected that in the coming two days we will continue with the operation.
Reporter: Mr Leung, could you talk about whether this incident has affected Hong Kong's reputation as an international shipping hub, whether it raises any questions on maritime safety and whether the Government plans to review the marine traffic control system? Thanks.
Chief Executive: This is definitely an isolated incident. The marine territory of Hong Kong is safe.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Issued at HKT 21:23
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