'Sea Smooth' Captain involved in Hong Kong's ferry disaster sentenced to 8 years in prison

The captain of a passenger ferry that collided with a boat in 2012 in Hong Kong, killing 39 people, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Lai Sai-ming, who steered the Sea Smooth in the 2012 collision, was convicted on Saturday on all 39 counts of manslaughter by seven of the nine jury members following almost 35 hours of deliberations. Judge Brian Keith said that the accident had been a "personal tragedy" for him and that "it cannot begin to compare with the grief of those who lost their loved ones," reported the BBC.

The Lamma IV's captain, Chow Chi-wai, on the other hand, has been jailed for nine months.

A probe into the region's worst maritime accident had revealed that the safety standards on the Lamma IV had not been properly enforced and there had been a "litany of errors."

The accident took place on October1, China's National Day, when the Lamma IV, which was carrying employees of Hong Kong Electric and their families including, children to watch a firework display, collided with the Sea Smooth north of Lamma Island.

Several of the passengers on Lamma IV, including children, were killed when the boat partially sank.

The Lamma IV captain was acquitted of manslaughter but declared guilty of endangering the safety of others at sea.

The crash, near Lamma Island, was Hong Kong's worst maritime accident since 1971.