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High profit, low wages fuel illegal sales of marine gas oil
Some tugboat crew sell fuel to foreign-registered vessels, then doctor logbooks; firms say crime not easy to detect
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The theft and illegal sale of marine gas oil typically involves tugboats that run operations such as moving barges of sand or crushed rocks. Industry insiders say it happens regularly, and is very difficult to prevent or detect.
Fabian Koh
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Under the cover of darkness, two tugboats sail up side by side.
One is a foreign tugboat that has sailed into the waters of Singapore off its east coast, while another is chartered by a local company to pull barges in operations off the mainland.
