Two men charged over fatal accident between two ships near Pedra Branca island
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An injured crewman being attended to at Singapore General Hospital after being airlifted there on RSAF’s Rescue 10 H225M medium-lift helicopter on July 19, 2024.
PHOTO: THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AIR FORCE/FACEBOOK
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SINGAPORE – Two men are facing charges over a fatal accident between two ships, the Hafnia Nile and the Ceres I, near Pedra Branca on July 19, 2024.
The Straits Times had earlier reported that the ships caught fire and 36 crew members
Indian national Soosai Antony Vainer, 35, and Sri Lankan Wickramage Viraj Amila Shavinda Perera, 40, were crew members on board the Singapore-registered Hafnia Nile when the accident took place 55km north-east of Pedra Branca – an island located at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait, about 24 nautical miles east of Singapore.
Each man faces a charge under the Merchant Shipping Act, and their cases were mentioned in court on July 2.
They are accused of failing to properly discharge their duties, causing serious damage to both vessels and the death of Mr Sellakkannu Shanmugasundaram, who was on board the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe-registered Ceres I at the time.
Another man, Mr Ge Junfu, who was also on board the Ceres I, suffered serious injuries.
Details about the injuries sustained by both men were not disclosed in court documents.
Wickramage was the officer in charge of the navigational watch when the accident took place while Soosai was then the duty lookout of the watch.
Soosai, who had allegedly observed that the Hafnia Nile was approaching Ceres I, is accused of failing to report the occurrence to the officer in charge of the navigational watch.
Instead, Soosai purportedly steered the Hafnia Nile when not directed to do so and did not keep a proper lookout, resulting in an allision with Ceres I, which was said to be stationary at the time.
An allision takes place when a moving object strikes a stationary one.
Wickramage is accused of failing to make a full appraisal of the situation and failing to maintain situational awareness of the area around the Hafnia Nile.
He is also said to have failed to ensure that a proper lookout was maintained before the allision took place.
Soosai’s case will be mentioned again in court on July 23 while Wickramage’s case has been adjourned to July 30.
