Four foreign sailors plead guilty to actions that led to massive oil spill in Port of Singapore
Singapore news outlet The Straits Times reports that four foreign sailors have pleaded guilty in a local court for their failure to properly carry out their duties in connection with an oil spill incident that occurred in the Port of Singapore in the middle of last year.
Dutch nationals Richard Ouwehand, Martin Hans Sinke, Eric Peijpers, and Merijn Heidema were serving as master, chief officer, second engineer and third engineer, respectively, on the Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima when it struck and damaged the Singapore-registered bunkering vessel Marine Honour at the Pasir Panjang Container Terminal around 14:20 local time on June 14, 2024.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that approximately 400 tonnes of oil had spilled from one of the cargo tanks of the bunkering vessel following the collision, though recovery and containment assets were eventually deployed including spill booms with a combined length of over 3,400 metres.
Patches of oil and light sheens were later observed off Pasir Panjang Terminal and along Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island in what has been described as the worst oil spill to occur in the country over the last ten years.
A prosecutor told the court that the full extent of the incident's environmental impact is still being determined while repairs on the bunkering vessel are still ongoing.
The defendants admitted in court that their failure to properly carry out their duties had contributed to the dredger's loss of control and the ensuing collision with the bunkering vessel.
An investigation revealed that the defendants had failed to close the dredger's starboard side circuit breaker following completion of maintenance of some electrical components.
Because the starboard side circuit breaker had been left open, the port side circuit breaker suffered an overload shortly after the dredger got underway at around 14:05 on the day of the incident. The dredger then suffered loss of propulsion and steering and went adrift, eventually striking the bunkering vessel.
The defendants are scheduled for sentencing on April 2, 2025. Each could face up to two years' imprisonment in addition to being made to pay fines totalling US$50,000.
