The Coroner's Court of Hong Kong has postponed its issuance of a ruling following inquest proceedings related to a maritime incident that left over 30 people dead in 2012.
The court had originally scheduled Thursday, December 4, as the date during which it would announce its verdict on the inquest into the October 1, 2012 collision between the ferries Lamma IV (pictured) and Sea Smooth near Lamma Island.
However, last Tuesday, December 2, a spokesperson for the judiciary confirmed that the hearing has been postponed. No reason was given for the postponement, and no details have been provided on when the proceedings would resume.
This latest inquest is being held to conduct a more thorough probe into the incident.
Lamma IV sank within minutes following the October 1, 2012 collision. Thirty of the ferry's 124 occupants were pronounced deceased at the scene, eight others were later declared dead on arrival in hospital, and another individual expired while undergoing treatment.
An earlier call for a coroner's inquest was rejected by the Hong Kong High Court in late 2022 on the basis of a lack of evidence that would warrant a deeper probe into the tragedy.
A High Court judge stated that a commission of inquiry report issued in 2013 had already identified the incident's "immediate cause" as well as the "structural causes rooted in the design and equipment on board the vessel."
A group of lawyers representing the families of four of the victims had told the High Court that additional police investigations have yielded new evidence warranting the inquest, which then led to the reversal of the court's earlier decision rejecting the inquest.
The latest proceedings revealed that a design flaw on Lamma IV was a contributing factor to its loss in 2012.
The ferry was originally designed with six belowdeck compartments with a watertight bulkhead separating the tank room and the steering gear compartment at the stern.
It has since been revealed that a director at Cheoy Lee Shipyards, which built the ferry, decided to incorporate a hatch between the two stern compartments but without a watertight door. The omission of this door is said to have contributed to the water ingress that caused people to be trapped on board the vessel as it sank following the collision.
Two officials of the Hong Kong Marine Department have admitted to not having noticed the flaw. They claimed that they had thought at the time that they were not required to look for issues whenever the ferry underwent periodic inspections.