‘Hong Kong's Modern-Day Titanic': Delayed inquest reveals painful truths for victims' families

After 13 years of waiting, families of victims in Hong Kong's deadliest maritime disaster are confronting painful truths as the long-delayed inquest into the 2012 Lamma IV ferry collision has concluded.

Alice Leung Shuk-ling, who lost her younger brother in the ferry collision, said the delayed proceedings have taken an emotional toll. "I didn't expect reading the court files would still stir such feelings after all this time," Leung told reporters.

Having sought answers for over a decade, Leung said the official inquiry came too late. "The puzzle would have been more complete if the inquest had begun earlier," she said, noting that time has eroded the memories of key witnesses, with some absent due to illness or immigration, leaving gaps in the testimonies.

Leung described the failure to install a crucial watertight door on the Lamma IV as a "known and accumulated problem" that created a tragic "butterfly effect." Maritime experts testified that the sinking time could have stretched to hours, allowing for a full-scale rescue had the door been installed, she said.

Despite the conclusion of the inquest, Leung remains frustrated that the Transport and Housing Bureau has yet to release its internal investigation report.

"Of course there is no single 'murderer,'" Leung said, "but no one has ever stepped forward to apologize." Instead, witnesses shifted blame onto one another during testimony, leaving families heartbroken and increasingly angry, she said.

While she acknowledges the difficulty of assigning legal accountability now, Leung said she hopes the coroner will issue concrete recommendations to prevent future tragedies.

Instead, she observed witnesses shifting blame onto one another, leaving families heartbroken and increasingly angry.

While she acknowledges the difficulty of assigning legal accountability now, Leung hopes the coroner will issue concrete recommendations to prevent future tragedies.

A survivor's trauma

For survivor Phillip Chiu Ping-chuen, 63, who lost his sister in the disaster, the inquest has clarified long-held questions, but the 13-year delay itself "is an injustice," he said.

Chiu described the disaster as "Hong Kong's modern-day Titanic," a trauma that kept him off ferries for years. The testimonies made painful memories resurface along with feelings of remorse, he said.

"I have always wondered why my sister couldn't escape after I gave her the lifebuoys," Chiu said. He learned during the inquest that her feet became entangled in lifebuoy ropes, trapping her in the deck's tent.

Choking back tears, he asked, "Did giving her the life jacket end up costing her?"

Despite the painful revelations, Chiu said the inquest was necessary but should have been held sooner. "The late opening is very unfair to the families and to the event itself," he said.

"I have always wondered why my sister couldn't escape after I gave her the lifebuoys," Chiu said. He learned during the inquest that her feet became entangled in lifebuoy ropes, trapping her in the deck's tent.

Choking back tears, he asked, "Did giving her the life jacket end up costing her?"

Despite the painful revelations, Chiu said the inquest was necessary but should have been held sooner. "The late opening is very unfair to the families and to the event itself," he said.

After days of listening to testimony, he concluded that safety was treated as "someone else's responsibility," citing failures in design, approval, and inspection.

"No one truly apologized, and some even got promoted," Chow reflected.

Feeling the families have overcome numerous obstacles just to have this delayed inquest, he shared that he speaks out only because the memory remains vividly painful.

Though the first National Day fireworks after the tragedy cast a long shadow of grief, he concedes that after so many years, "we must look forward."