SINGAPORE — Four Dutch crew members on a Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima, which hit another vessel at Pasir Panjang Terminal in June 2024, have admitted to failing to discharge their duties properly.

The incident caused serious damage to a bunker vessel — the Singapore-flagged Marine Honour — and led to the worst oil spill in Singapore in 10 years.

On March 12, Richard Ouwehand, 49, Martin Hans Sinke, 48, Eric Peijpers, 56, and Merijn Heidema, 26, pleaded guilty to one charge each under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 for their role in the oil spill.

The oil spill spread to the coastlines of East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and Sentosa, the Southern Islands and even to the Johor coastline in Kota Tinggi.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Regina Lim told the court on March 12 that clean-up operations took more than two months, and that the full extent of the oil spill's impact on the coastal and marine environment is still being assessed.

Marine Honour is still undergoing repairs for the damage, and the cost of repairs is estimated to exceed $6.6 million, the prosecutor added.

During the incident, Ouwehand was Vox Maxima's master, while Sinke was the vessel's chief officer and in charge of its navigational watch.

Peijpers, a second engineer, and Heidema, a third engineer, were the officers in charge of the engineering watch at the time.

DPP Lim said that on the morning of June 14, 2024, the day of the incident, the circuit breaker of the outgoing feeder of the high-voltage switchboards to the step-down transformer on the starboard side of the Vox Maxima was opened to allow for maintenance works.

Starboard refers to the right side of a vessel when facing its front, while port refers to the left.

The circuit breaker controlled the flow of electrical power from the main generator to the step-down transformer on the starboard side, and when it was in an open state, no electrical power would be supplied to the equipment connected to the low-voltage switchboards.

The circuit breaker remained open after the maintenance works were completed that day.

Prior to taking over the engineering watch at noon, Peijpers and Heidema did not check the status of the circuit breakers, which would affect the distribution of electrical power on the vessel.

By law, they are required to be satisfied with the condition and mode of operation of the various main and auxiliary systems, including the electrical power distribution system, before taking over the engineering watch.

During their watch, Peijpers and Heidema prepared the Vox Maxima for her departure from the Western Anchorage to ST Engineering Marine's Tuas shipyard.

Just after noon, Peijpers and Heidema were notified by the officers from the preceding engineering watch and the officers on the bridge for the afternoon watch that the main engines had to be ready for the voyage by 1.30pm. 

The two men then stopped the auxiliary generator and started the main generators, which comprised the starboard generator and a second main generator on the port side.

As the circuit breaker on the starboard side was open, no electrical power from the starboard generator could be supplied to the equipment connected to the low-voltage switchboards, and they were thus powered by the port generator. 

While on the way to Tuas shipyard, two of Vox Maxima's hydraulic pumps that drew power from the low-voltage switchboards were started as part of the planned operations, increasing the load at a circuit breaker on the port side.

This circuit breaker tripped as it was overloaded when the second hydraulic pump was started, leading to a loss of electrical power for all low-voltage equipment, including rudders and controllable pitch propellers.

This led to the loss of steering and propulsion control of the Vox Maxima.

Upon the loss of steering control, both Ouwehand and Sinke were responsible for, among other things, engaging emergency steering, but they failed to do so.

During this time, the Vox Maxima approached a ship, the Super Hero, which managed to alter its course and speed to avoid a collision.

The Super Hero had 21 crew members on board at the time. 

A minute later, the Vox Maxima hit the starboard side of the Marine Honour, which suffered damage to at least six water ballast tanks, 10 cargo oil tanks and the slop port tank as a result.

The prosecution is seeking fines of between $20,000 and $30,000 each for Ouwehand and Sinke, and fines of between $40,000 and $50,000 each for Heidema and Peijpers.

For the offence, each of them can be fined up to $50,000, jailed for up to two years, or both.

They are scheduled to be sentenced on April 2.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.