1. have checked the licence today on one of the ferrites. The ferry has 22 child life jackets on board and 429 adult life jackets. I am going to investigate what a child life jackets means, i suspect it is for the 3 to 12 age group of which there are often more than 22 on board.
2. what provision is there for infants i.e. babes in arms, as i can see there are no floatation devises for the below 2 age group. On planes these are provided there is an example of a infant life jacket at
http://mespetites.blogspot.hk/2009/06/b ... -vest.html
and a child life jacket at
http://www.wakepro.co.nz/rfd-guardian-life-jacket.html
as you can see they are not the same. This website offers three sizes of child vest in addition to an infants vest.
SIZES:
Child Xtra Small - for children 6 months - 3 years, 10-15kg
Child Small - for Children 2 years - 5 years, 12-25kg
Child Medium - for children 5 - 16 years, 22-40kg
XS and Small have a crotch strap for additional protection - Child Medium do not.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL PARENTS WITH INFANTS TO BUY THIER OWN INFANT LIFE JACKET. If you look at the advice on the ships video of how to enter the water you cannot do so in the recommended way while holding your infant. You can see the infant jacket holds the infant safe in the water even if they are unconscious.
3. I have received an email from Ms Yu Lai-Fan today and would like to thank her publicly for looking into the issue. Here is her response.
"Thank you for your e-mail. I also expressed great concern about the points that you mentioned in the e-mail.
I urged the HKKF to expedite the investigation and give the result to me as soon as possible.
I will let you know once I received the result or any other related information.
Thanks again for your concern to the community safety."
Please email her or drop into her office, her staff are very helpful and lovely.
4. I have been advised by the Police regarding ferries. They do not have any power to stop a ferry that is over loaded, nor do the marine police. They have suggested firstly you ask to see the captain and show him the issue. If he does not take action to your satisfaction you should tell him you will report him to the marine department. If no action is taken at this point you should take a photograph of the situation and tell the captain you are going to report him by name or vessel umber to the marine department. You may consider getting off the ferry if you feel unsafe.
The ultimate responsibility for safety is with the captain, it is his discussion and his alone to decide if the ferry sails regardless of any directives from management
5. If you are a parent please express you concerns to the Principal of your school and the PTA, they may have some influence.
6. I am still waiting for HKKF's reply to my initial enquiry and the marine department has not replied yet. I will phone them both soon.