Have just got this very fair and good reply from the marine department which shows they are doing things and responding to concerns. Regarding your concerns we have discussed with the ferry company to find some areas of improvement. 1) CREW LIST It is not a legal requirement to display crew list onboard but only the company's commitment to provide better customer services. As replied by the company, in accordance with their internal guideline, crew members are required to display their name tapes during navigation. Related notice has been issued to remind their duty in this aspect. 2) LIFE JACKET Spot check was carried out by MD officer in mid-April,2014 and find in order. The condition of life jackets is checked during annual survey and spot checks. As replied by the company, there will be at least two on-board inspections before and after routine sailings. It is estimated that the life jackets might be taken out of seats or storage cabinet during scheduled sailings. Crew will store it to original position if it is placed improperly. 3) Gangplank door not properly secured, Man-hole opened during sea passage without warning strips to alert passengers. As replied by the company, the engineer assigned to "Sea Speed" on that day, problem has been notified and the gangplank was thus secured manually with rope. On the other hand he had opened and entered the one-man-fitted cabin hatch cover to urgently repair the winch, asked a sailor to stand near the hatch to alert passengers and avoid accident. The movement of gangplank had been fixed afterward. It is believed that there should be some misunderstanding between our crew and the passenger. The ferry company admitted there was some communication problem between the crew and passengers and promised to make improvement. We also reminded the ferry company to ensure proper warning signals to be in place to alert passengers.
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