The safety of waters between Hong Kong and Macau are again in the spotlight after a turbojet ferry sailing between Macau and Hong Kong slammed into an unknown object – believed to be a large rubber tyre - on Sunday night, injuring 124 of the 163 passengers and 11 crew, 14 of them seriously.
It’s the fourth accident in two years on the busy hour-long ferry route between Macau and Hong Kong.
In a similar accident in November 2013, 87 people were hurt when a Macau hydrofoil hit a floating object off an outlying Hong Kong island.
Last year, a ferry hit a breakwater in Macau’s harbour and another collided with a mainland Chinese cargo ship in separate incidents that left dozens injured.
Hong Kong suffered its biggest maritime tragedy in decades in 2012 when a boat and commuter ferry collided, killing 39 people and injuring about 100.
In the latest incident passengers were thrown to the ground, the lights went out and people scrambled for lifejackets.