A. The Incident

1.At about 1835 hours on 30.7.1999, in good visibility and slight sea, two persons fell from a floating board while being towed by a Beach Pleasure Hired Boat ( BPHB ) fitted with an outboard engine in position 22o 28'.00N 114o 13'.16E off the shore of Ting Kok, Tai Po ( See Appendix A ). At about 1835 hours while the persons were playing in the shallow water off Ting Kok, they tied a floating board with a rope to the stern of BPHB No.18. Two persons, one laying over the other, were clinging onto the floating board with faces downwards. The elder of the two persons, aged 21, was underneath while the younger one, aged 15, was on top. The BPHB No.16 was then steered at slow speed by a person while another person stayed on the BPHB No.18 under tow, which in turn was towing the floating board ( See Appendix B ). After a lapse of about 10 seconds, the two persons on the floating board fell into the sea. The elder person could stand up himself in the water and suffered no injury while the younger person drowned. The dead body of the missing person was discovered by the Marine Police launch in the morning of 1.8.1999 off the east coast of Yeung Chau.

B. Findings

1. The incident was caused by the improper use of the floating board. While it was being towed, it inclined to one side and the two persons clinging on it lost balance and fell into the water.

2. The lack of safety consciousness while engaging in water sports or activities is the major contributory factor leading to this incident. Illegal modification had been made to the BPHB No.16 by fitting an outboard engine. The steering person had no experience in towing persons on a floating board under power. Also, despite the provision of lifejackets on the BPHBs, none of the persons had put on lifejackets for their own safety while engaging in such activity.

3. The steering person did not hold local certificate of competency as master and engineer as required under Part VA, Regulation 48A (1) of Merchant Shipping ( Miscellaneous Craft ) Regulations ( Cap.313 ).

C. The Lessons

1. The floating board used in this accident is not suitable for two persons in this water sport. Two persons would easily incline to a side, lose their balance and fall into the water.

2. Lack of safety consciousness is considered the major contributory factor leading to the incident. Should the persons had safety consciousness in their mind, they would not have modified the boats or towed the persons on the floating board and would have donned their lifejackets.

Appendix A

Appendix B

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