A planned Victoria Harbour engineering project sparked confusion yesterday when onlookers called the fire department about what appeared to be a sinking ship
A planned Victoria Harbour engineering project sparked confusion yesterday when onlookers called the fire department about what appeared to be a sinking ship.
But the barge, which was partly submerged, was delivering materials as part of a harborfront reclamation project in Wanchai.
The fire department arrived at the scene on a boat around 11.20 am after receiving a report about a submerged vessel.
"The situation is normal," said Victor Ma, Marine Department spokesman.
Before Ma could confirm all was well, many government officials, himself included, struggled to find answers for alarmed citizens who called in. "Frankly speaking, I was not aware of this work until this morning," Ma said.
Neither were the Police Department, Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center and Port Development Council, who were all unable to provide details on the submerged ship Thursday morning.
Roger Eastman, marine services manager at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, said he received frantic e-mails and phone calls about the barge.
"Someone said, 'You do realise there is a bl***y big ship sinking outside your club, right?" he recalled. "I was taking great delight in watching it."
Eastman said he was aware of the planned development because he received e-mail notifications from the engineer of the Wanchai development, including a reminder Wednesday afternoon.
The Marine Department posted two notices about the planned projects on its website, one dated September 22 and the other October 12.
The barge Zhong Ren 1601, is designed to be semi-submergible to deliver concrete caissons, or watertight structures used in underwater construction.
Water is pumped out of the caissons so workers can access the chamber under water. Because the materials are too heavy, the ship submerges to float them out.
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
