Shipbuilder omitted bulkhead meant to prevent catastrophic floodings

More evidence of a disaster in the making emerged on Thursday as the inquiry into the sinking of the Lamma IV on Oct 1 learned the passenger launch was cleared for service by government officials, despite the fact it was missing a critical bulkhead which might have prevented the vessel from sinking so quickly.

Former Marine Department principal surveyor of ships and general manager of the local vessel safety branch Wong Chi-kin told the Commission of Inquiry on Thursday that he was responsible for clearing the ship's construction plans back in 1995 and that those plans included a watertight door to prevent catastrophic flooding. Ship builders were allowed to amend plans if the department was notified. The shipbuilder, Cheoy Lee Shipyards, however, omitted the bulkhead from the plans and did not inform the department, Wong testified. But the launch was still cleared for operation by the Marine Department.

Marine Department Senior Ship Inspector Fung Wai-man testified that the lack of a watertight door was not considered an abnormality, because the combined volume of the two rooms were not considered a risk as they were not thought to be large enough to sink the ship when flooded.

Wong was transferred to other duties prior to the completion of the Lamma IV and was not involved in approving the vessel for use. He testified, however, that it was not uncommon for watertight doors to be omitted in similar vessels.

An expert study conducted by Anthony Armstrong of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects found sections near the stern of the ship had a large access opening that should have included a watertight door.

Armstrong found that, "the effect of the missing door was that three compartments were flooded at the stern of the ship rather than the two that were holed amid ships in the collision. This materially contributed to the speed of the loss of the vessel.

The tragedy which claimed 39-lives occurred after the launch left Lamma Island en route to Victoria Harbour to view the National Day fireworks. An incoming catamaran ferry, the Sea Smooth, rammed the launch, leaving two large gashes extending well below Lamma IV's water line.

Witnesses at the inquiry testified that the ship went down within a matter of minutes.

The launch's hull construction plans were sent to the department in 1995. Ship builders are also required to submit damage stability and floodable length calculations. But Cheoy Lee failed to deliver its flooding calculations which are used to determine how much water a vessel can take on before sinking below its safety line.

Armstrong told the inquiry there was a certain amount of flexibility in submitting disaster impact calculations, but added regulations were much tougher for triple-decker vessels carrying more than 1,000 passengers after fateful ferry crashes in the late 1970s.

Commission Counsel Roger Beresford said vessels designed to carry more than 100 passengers were required to have subdivided, watertight bulkheads since 1984.

It is the second major revelation of design flaws, following Armstrong's findings that the launch's relatively thin hull also sped the sinking.

The commission also heard that there were no set guidelines for testing how well seats were affixed to vessel decks. Wong said ship inspectors would simply test the seats by trying to budge them by hand or by sitting in them.

Witnesses testified that most of the chairs on board the Lamma IV were jarred loose after the collision preventing many of the victims from escaping the rapidly sinking vessel in time.

tim@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/18/2013 page1)