Questions raised over smoke alarms on ferries blocked by smokers
Passengers lighting up in toilets are putting others at risk by blocking life-saving smoke detecters with paper on vessels to outer islands
A new safety scare has hit ferries to outlying islands: passengers are covering up smoke alarms in toilets on board so they can have a sneaky smoke.
Less than a month after 39 people lost their lives in a ferry disaster off Lamma Island, the operator of New World First Ferry Services admitted that it had found cases of passengers lighting up after blocking potentially life-saving smoke detectors.
The company was conducting more checks but had also called in the Tobacco Control Office because, it said, it did not have the staff to ensure proper patrols.
It could only try to limit the damage, a customer service spokeswoman for First Ferry said.
"As our crew members have various duties to perform on board, it is not feasible for them to [keep conducting] spot checks during the entire sailing to identify offenders," she said.
"We will continue to press the Tobacco Control Office to perform frequent enforcement action on board the vessels."
The operator plies the routes from Central to Cheung Chau and Mui Wo, and from North Point to Hung Hom and Kowloon City.
