BUSINESS AS USUAL

This charming photo was taken by my neighbour Mary yesterday evening, the last day of the Chinese New Year holiday in Hong Kong.

Don't be fooled by the idyllic setting. The waters around Hong Kong are normally some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Business returned to normal today however, when a huge oil tanker rammed and sank a fishing boat at around 4pm local time.

The tanker then veered sharply to port, and seemed to be about to plough into the the Wah Fu housing estate at Waterfall Bay, before the crew apparently stopped it by reversing engines and dropping anchor.

It sounds like the marine equivalent of doing a handbrake turn.

My friend Marco saw it happen from his office window in Aberdeen, which is on the south side of Hong Kong Island. He said the trawler was literally gone in 60 seconds, so I don't know if there were fatalities.

Marco even took some photos of the aftermath, but only happened to mention it to me this evening. I hope he's a better draughtsman than he is a reporter.