Two charged in connection with fatal tanker collision off Singapore
A court in Singapore has charged two individuals in connection with a collision that left one person dead in the country's eastern waters in July last year.
The accused, an Indian national and a Sri Lankan national, were both serving as crewmembers aboard the Singapore-flagged tanker Hafnia Nile when it collided with the São Tomé and Príncipe-flagged tanker Ceres I about 55 kilometres northeast of Pedra Branca island near the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait on July 19, 2024.
Fires ignited on board the two ships shortly after the collision, though their crews were later rescued by government-owned and good Samaritan vessels from both Singapore and Malaysia.
The court said the actions of the accused left both vessels seriously damaged and resulted in the death of one crewman on Ceres I, while another seafarer on the same tanker suffered serious but non-life-threatning injuries.
Details on the offences have not been provided to local media other than the two crewmembers on Hafnia Nile being charged under Singapore's Merchant Shipping Act.
Ceres I has itself also come under scrutiny. Claire Jungman, Chief of Staff of US-based non-profit United Against Nuclear Iran, had earlier said that the tanker had been transporting Iranian and Venezuelan oil in violation of UN sanctions since 2019 and 2021, respectively.
UK-based Persian-language news outlet Iran International had quoted experts as saying that the area off Singapore where the collision occurred is known for being a venue for illicit ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil by the so-called "dark tanker fleet."
