The pleasure boat was filled with staff from a Hong Kong electricity provider and their families who were going to watch a holiday fireworks display when the collision occurred.
Scores of people were thrown into the sea when the Lamma’s left rear side was torn open by the impact. Others were trapped inside as the boat sank in just two minutes, leaving only its bow protruding from the water.
The fatal accident raised questions over safety in the waters of Hong Kong -- one of the world’s busiest ports -- after an independent commission found a “litany of errors” had contributed to the disaster.
Victims could have had vital extra minutes to escape if the Lamma IV had been equipped with a watertight door, while several were actually left trapped when seats fell on top of them, the inquiry found.
The boat also had no children’s life jackets onboard when it sank, claiming the lives of eight youngsters.
It was the deadliest maritime accident in the territory since 1971, when a Hong Kong-Macau ferry sank during a typhoon, leaving 88 people dead.
Several other incidents since -- including two high-speed ferry accidents that injured scores of passengers and the grounding of a large container ship -- have worried those who cross Hong Kong’s waters.
New ports in the nearby Chinese trading hub of the Pearl River Delta have driven a surge in maritime traffic in the island’s ports, with vessel arrivals almost doubling between 1990 and 2013 to some 200,000 a year.
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