Pasir Panjang oil spill: 4 Dutch crewmen charged over failure to perform duties on boat that lost power

Four Dutch crewmen were charged on Nov. 6 following the Pasir Panjang Terminal oil spill incident in June 2024.

According to The Straits Times (ST), they were charged for failing to properly perform their duties on their vessel, Vox Maxima.

The Vox Maxima had hit a bunker vessel, causing oil to spill from a ruptured cargo tank.

The four men — Merijn Heidema, 25; Martin Hans Sinke, 48; Richard Ouwehand, 49, and Eric Peijpers, 55 – were given one charge each under the Merchant Shipping Act.

What happened

Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima had an allision with the Marine Honour, a stationary Singapore-flagged vessel on Jun. 14, 2024 at the terminal.

The Vox Maxima had experienced a sudden loss of engine and steering control when the incident occurred.

Ouwehand was the master of Vox Maxima and Sinke had been in charge of the navigational watch, reported ST.

Their charges pertain to allegedly failing to ensure that emergency steering was carried out when the vessel's steering gear pumps were supplied with emergency power.

Heidema and Peijpers were in charge of the engineering watch, but allegedly did not ensure that enough emergency power was available for their vessel's steering gear when the engine room was put in a standby condition.

The incident caused the leakage of 400 tonnes of fuel into the sea.

Beaches along Sentosa, East Coast and other areas such as Marina Keppel Bay were affected, prompting closures for clean-up efforts.

The case has been adjourned to Dec. 4.

Top photos via Van Oord & Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore - MPA/Facebook