Government responds to Coroner's verdict on death inquest for vessel collision incident near Lamma Island in 2012
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A Government spokesman said the Government is closely monitoring the delivery of the verdict. After the incident, the Police commenced criminal investigation and arrested the coxswain of "Sea Smooth", Lai Sai-ming, and the coxswain of "Lamma IV", Chow Chi-wai, in October 2012. In February 2015, Chow was convicted of Endangering the Safety of Others at Sea and Lai was convicted of 39 counts of Manslaughter and a count of Endangering the Safety of Others at Sea. Separately, former senior ship inspector of the Marine Department (MD) Wong Kam-ching and the then Assistant Director of Marine, So Ping-chi, were under arrest in March 2015, and were subsequently convicted of the offence of Perjury and offence of Misconduct in Public Office in February and June 2016 respectively. So was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment (his appeal succeeded and his sentence was reduced to 4.5 months) and Wong was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. When considering whether to conduct a death inquest in 2020, the Coroner's Court ruled the deaths as unlawful killing.
The spokesman added that the Government attaches great importance to the incident, after which investigations at various levels have been conducted. The MD has implemented all practicable recommendations in the investigation reports to enhance maritime safety to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.
The delivery of the verdict is to be continued. The Government will continue to study the judgement.
Ends/Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 22:29
Issued at HKT 22:29
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