Officers on Van Oord Dredger Plead Guilty for Singapore Allision/Oil Spill

Four of the officers who were aboard the Van Oord dredger Vox Maxima in June 2024 when it blacked out and hit a bunker tanker pleaded guilty in a Singapore court on Thursday for failing to properly discharge their duties.  The four individuals are facing steep fines for causing the worst oil spill in Singapore in a decade.

Richard Ouwehand, age 49, was the master of the dredge at the time of the incident. Martin Hans Sinke, age 48, was the chief officer and in charge of the navigation which was moving the vessel from the Western Anchorage to the SDT Engineering Marine Tuas shipyard. Eric Peijpers, age 56, was the second engineer, and Merijn Heidema, age 26, was third engineer. Each admitted to one charge under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

The dredger Vox Maxima (43,400 dwt) was underway on June 14 in Singapore harbor when the vessel lost propulsion and steering causing it to strike the docked bunker tanker Marine Honour (9,000 dwt) while it was alongside another vessel at the Pasir Panjang Terminal. One of the bunker vessel’s tanks was ripped open and an estimated 400 tons of fuel oil leaked into the harbor and fouled the shoreline in sensitive environmental areas. 

Prosecutors told the court the clean-up took more than two months. They said the full extent is being analyzed. The Marine Honour is still undergoing repairs with an estimated cost of US$5 million. According to the reports, at least six of the vessel’s ballast tanks, 10 cargo tanks, and a slop tank all suffered damage.

Previous reports said the dredge had lost steering and propulsion during the incident with the details coming out during the court hearings. On the morning of June 14, the engineers on watch were conducting maintenance work while the vessel was at anchor, and they opened a circuit breaker on the high-voltage switchboard stopping power to the step-down transformer on the starboard side of the vessel. 

At noon the watch changed in the engine room and Peijpers and Heidema came on duty and they were told the vessel needed to be ready to move at 1:30 p.m. local time to the shipyard. They switched the vessel from its auxiliary generator to the main generators to prepare for the navigation, but prosecutors said they failed to perform their duties and did not realize the circuit breaker was still open. The only electrical power was coming from the port side generator because the circuit breaker had remained open.

Underway, the vessel’s two hydraulic pumps started to draw power and then the second came online it overloaded the port side circuit breaker shutting down all power to the low-voltage equipment. The vessel lost control as its controllable pitch propellers and rudders lost power.

The prosecutors alleged that the master Ouwehand and chief officer Sinke failed to properly engage emergency steering. 

The Vox Maxima just missed hitting one vessel, the 15,000-dwt product tanker Super Hero. The report said the crew of the tanker was able to alter speed and course to avoid a collision. However, the out-of-control Vox Maxima then plowed into the Marine Honour.

Prosecutors told the court that the master and chief officer should each be fined between US$15,000 and US$22,500. The recommendation for the two engineers was that each should be fined between US$30,000 and US$37,500. They were facing a maximum penalty of up to two years in jail and fines of up to approximately US$37,5000 each.

The court has scheduled the sentencing for April 2.