The first chief officer of a 108m-long dredger ‘JBB De Rong 19’, which collided with the 180m-long tanker ‘Kartika Segara’, leading to the death of five crewmembers, was neither qualified nor certified to be managing such a ship, a court decided on July 11. The chief officer was sentenced in two years in jail, as he pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of the crew.
The chief officer of Chinese nationality, was working on board the Dominica-registered ‘JBB De Rong 19’, and continued to navigate the ship, ignoring the instruction that MPA Singapore gave.
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Namely, prior to the collision, Singapore’s Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) had provided timely navigational information and warnings to both vessels to take preventive actions to avoid a collision, however it was not averted.
‘JBB De Rong 19’ collided with ‘Kartika Segara’, causing the deaths of five crewmembers. The chief officer was sentenced in two years in jail, as he pleading guilty to causing the deaths by performing a rash act.
The incident took place in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait. Following collision, the Dominican-registered dredger JBB DE RONG 19 capsized and is currently partially submerged.
At the time of the incident, JBB DE RONG 19 was carrying 12 crew members onboard.