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Following are the opening remarks by the Director of Marine, Mr Francis Liu, at the press conference today (April 30) on the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Collision of Vessels near Lamma Island on 1 October 2012:
Now I will say a few words in English.
The Marine Department attaches great importance to the views and recommendations given by the Commission of Inquiry in its report, and will follow up them in a full and earnest manner.
I would once again like to send my condolences to the families of the deceased and my regards to those injured in the incident.
As the Director of Marine, I will supervise and lead my colleagues to fully co-operate with the Steering Committee and work with the Task Force on implementation.
I now report on the major initiatives and immediate steps taken by the Marine Department.
Immediately after the collision incident, we re-inspected the structure of all 304 ferries and launches that were at the time in service. As an update, the number of local vessels varies from time to time. As of April, there are 296 ferries and launches in Hong Kong.
All the vessels inspected complied with their plans. Regarding the watertight bulkheads, six vessels were found to have minor defects. But the issues have been rectified and all of them passed the Marine Department's re-inspection.
The Marine Department has also conducted inspections to check lifejacket provisions on a total of 364 vessels, comprising, as of April, 296 ferries and launches and 68 kaitos in Hong Kong. Our findings are that as of yesterday, April 29, 355 vessels complied with the requirements on the quantity of onboard lifejackets. Only one launch failed to provide the required quantity. The Marine Department has temporarily suspended the certificate of survey of this vessel. Another eight launches currently under maintenance will have their life-saving appliances inspected before they resume operation.
I would like to add that lifejackets currently provided on board local vessels come in two types, namely one that has two different designs for adults and children respectively, and another that has one common design for adults and children alike. For the latter, the jacket contains loops under the armpit sections. A child can put his arms through the loops to prevent the lifejacket from slipping off. Such design has been approved by the Marine Department for use by children and adults in common.
Regarding pleasure vessels for hire, we have spot checked the number of lifejackets on board 126 pleasure vessels for hire. They are all found to be in compliance with the requirements.
We will embark on our next stage of inspection. We will start inspecting the construction, watertight bulkheads and life-saving appliances of pleasure vessels on hire with a capacity of more than 12 passengers. The exercise involves some 170 vessels and is expected to be completed in August this year.
Regarding the fitting of seats on ferries and launches, we will study the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry report with a view to stipulating more stringent requirements on the attachment of seats on board vessels.
Regarding the 10 further improvement measures mentioned by the Secretary at the Legislative Council last year, progress has been made on various fronts after extensive dialogues with the Local Vessels Advisory Committee and its sub-committees. We will continue to work out details with the trade.
The Marine Department will continue to implement further improvement measures with the industry and will conduct a full review of the regulatory regime for local vessel safety.
Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the opening remarks.)
Ends/Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:00
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