The Court of Appeal has ordered a inquest to investigate the deaths of victims of the 2012 Lamma ferry disaster, more than a decade after the tragedy that claimed 39 lives.
Families of the victims have long fought for an inquest to be held after the Lamma IV collided into another vessel on October 1, 2012. The court’s decision came more than half a year after the city’s High Court rejected a bid to launch an inquest into the disaster.
In 2020, the Coroner’s Court told the families of victims that it would not investigate the crash, with the Department of Justice saying it would not initiate prosecutions.
Applicants Leung Shuk-ling, Chiu Ping-chuen and Tsui Chi-shing, whose relatives were among the 39 who died in the ferry crash off Lamma Island, had argued that it was in the public interest to hold an inquest into the deaths of two victims.
Rejecting the application last November, High Court judge Russell Coleman said than an inquest was not in the public interest. Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon and Madam Justices Susan Kwan and Carlye Chu ruled on Wednesday that Coleman’s ruling was “too restrictive.”
Speaking to reporters outside court, Leung said in Cantonese: “I’m thrilled, this is the first time in years that I’ve been able to smile in front of a camera,” adding that she hoped the investigation will get to the bottom of the incident.
Bulkhead not watertight
Leung and Chiu argued that the manufacturer of the Lamma IV vessel was well aware that the ferry’s bulkhead – an upright wall within the hull of the ship – was designed to be watertight.
In Wednesday’s judgement, Poon cited the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report dated April 2013 as saying that the ferry that carried the passengers who died in the crash was built with a non-watertight bulkhead.
The Lamma IV, licensed by the Marine Department after it was built by Cheoy Lee Shipyards Limited, had a bulkhead that was not fitted with a watertight door. That allowed seawater to flood into all but two of the compartments of the vessel after it was hit by another ferry – Sea Smooth.
Instead of sinking immediately, the vessel would have remained afloat for one-and-three-quarter minutes, if the flooding was limited to the two compartments that were initially flooded, said Royal Institution of Naval Architects Fellow Neville Armstrong, an expert witness of the COI.
“[W]hether Cheoy Lee knew that the Bulkhead was to be built as watertight is a fundamental issue that needs to be resolved so that the applicants and the families of the victims and the public would have a better and more complete picture of what had exactly happened[,]” Poon’s judgement read.
“It goes to the root cause of such a major maritime disaster,” Poon continued. “We earnestly hope that when the inquest is concluded, there will be closure for all of them, which is regrettably long overdue.”
Long working hours and construction issues
Poon also cited evidence that surfaced in recent years, including seafarers’ long working hours and additional issues with the construction and design of the Lamma IV detailed in a death investigation report submitted to the coroner in 2020.
The report, prepared by the police, said skippers employed by the company that owned the Sea Smooth worked 24-hour shifts. It also said the Lamma IV’s coaming – a vertical surface designed to prevent flooding or leakages from the main deck – did not meet the 300mm height requirement.
A spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said in a statement issued Wednesday: “We noted the Court’s verdict and will render full co-operation to the death inquest.” But it is inappropriate for the government to comment further matters relating to the inquest, as legal proceedings had begun, the statement read.
