Gov’t to support owners of burnt fishing boats

THE Maritime and Water Bureau, the Customs Service, the Fire Bureau, and the Social Work Bureau will support the owners and families of the fishing boats that caught fire.

According to authorities, when the possibility of fire again is completely ruled out, and the sea conditions permit, the administration will arrange for the shipowners to inspect the damage of their ships to determine how to salvage them, as well as other follow-up work. Among the six fishing boats involved in the accident, there is one Macau-registered fishing boat and five Hong Kong-registered fishing boats.

The bureau can assist the owners of the Macau-registered fishing boats to apply for a deferment of the loan repayment to the fishery fund, and has also contacted the Hong Kong Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation.

More than 30 vessels and more than 200 rescue personnel were dispatched Monday and yesterday.