Marine Department on the warpath

Live-aboards at Discovery Bay Marina

Unintended consequences of the tragic crash of a ferry with a pleasure boat in October last year, from a couple of sources in the shipping industry:

The Lamma IV was non-compliant with basic requirements "from A to Z".  She was cobbled together without any thought to safety.  In the court case (ongoing), this all came out, including that the Marine Department (MarDep) had made no inspections of the boat at any stage.
As a result, the top leadership of MarDep were cleaned out and the new regime looked around to see what else MarDep might have been ignoring.
MarDep is now going around to the live-aboard boats around Hong Kong and asking if the residents are the owners.  If they are just renting, they are served notice.  They are cracking down on owners having to be the only ones living on a boat.

This will have a dramatic effect on the Discovery Bay Marina Club and Aberdeen, the main two places where people live on yachts or large boats.

Earlier this year, MarDep had started a crackdown on boats' mooring around Hong Kong -- this was in the news a while back. If a boat was an inch over the length stipulated for the mooring, it had to move and anchor somewhere else.  And they are cracking down on the requirement that only owners can use a mooring: it can't be rented out.
This moorings crackdown has exacerbated the acute shortage of moorings in Hong Kong.  Some say there's a need for another 13,000.
As a result of all this, the market for boats in Hong Kong has collapsed.  One broker I spoke to, who had had a bumper year last year, said there was "nothing happening, nothing at all".
A group representing the boat industry -- agents, dealers, surveyors, and Paul Zimmerman of LegCo -- met with MarDep a few weeks back to put forward proposals for more moorings. They suggested enlarging Aberdeen East to Ocean Park (400 more), using the inner harbour of the new cruise terminal at the old Kai Tak (600 more) and Tolo harbour. The ideas were met with stony silence.   Too much hassle, I'd guess.
There's not much ice to be cut, when the industry is seen as just a "rich person's" game.  Which it's not, of course.  How many thousands more are in the industry for business or pleasure, ordinary folk, trying to get a chance to enjoy this wonderful harbour and wonderful sport.  And most of those 13,000 moorings are needed for small runabouts, not for gin palaces.
It's all a bit crazy, and a self-inflicted injury for Hong Kong.  One can see how MarDep's in covering arse mode, but still....
A BIT LATER:  Meantime, Judy 'Bucket" Roberts sent the below, labelled "lonely on the mooring", Xena closest. (?  did she mean "lovely" perhaps??).... Well at least we have a mooring!  Thanks Bucket...
LATER STILL (24/6): MarDep is now issuing fines for not displaying the boat licence number.  Right, that'll help avoid accidents....