Inspection reveals high-speed ferry hit an ‘unidentified object’

An injured passenger of a high-speed ferry is escorted by rescuers to a hospital after getting on shore in Hong Kong

Ferry operator Shun Tak Holdings said a preliminary inspection on the boat that hit an “unidentified object” off a small island in Hong Kong’s western waters Sunday evening found damage to the rear wing and the engine room.
More than 120 people were injured when the high-speed ferry traveling from Macau to Hong Kong slammed into an object floating in the water, authorities said yesterday.
The hydrofoil was carrying 163 passengers and 11 crew members, rescuers said. The ferry lost power after the collision, but it was not in any danger of sinking, they said.
According to Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, the injury count stood at 124 yesterday, including five people in critical condition.
TV news channels showed passengers, some with bandages on their heads, arriving at a Hong Kong pier and being taken to waiting ambulances.
It was the fourth accident in two years on the busy hour-long ferry route between Macau and Hong Kong.
In a similar accident in November 2013, 87 people were hurt when a Macau hydrofoil hit a floating object off an outlying Hong Kong island. Last year, a ferry hit a breakwater in Macau’s harbor and another collided with a mainland Chinese cargo ship in separate incidents that left dozens injured.
Hong Kong’s nautical safety has been in the spotlight since the city suffered its biggest maritime tragedy in decades in 2012 when a boat and commuter ferry collided, killing 39 people and injuring about 100. MDT/Agencies

local passenger released from hospital

A local woman aboard a hydrofoil was among those injured on Sunday evening when the boat collided with an unknown object en route from Macau to Hong Kong. According to the Marine and Water Bureau, she has since been discharged from a hospital in Hong Kong. The Macau Health Bureau issued a statement yesterday to express readiness to provide medical care to the local resident affected by the incident.