Tugboat captain gets seven weeks’ jail for theft and sale of marine gas
A view of an oil refinery (background) as a tugboat passes.
SINGAPORE — Stealing negligible quantities at a time, the captain of a Singapore-registered tugboat worked with his chief engineer to siphon marine gas oil belonging to their employer, East Marine, over two months.
When they collected S$2,370 worth of oil — which could fetch S$1,500 on the black market — they tried to sell it to crew members on a Belize-registered tugboat.
But they were caught red-handed during the transaction in the wee hours of May 4.
The captain of TB Support 1, Indonesian Eko Soemarsono, 59, was on Wednesday (May 23) sentenced to seven weeks' jail for engaging in a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust as a staff of East Marine, along with five crew members of the receiving boat named Ummi.
The crew of Ummi got four weeks' jail each for engaging in a conspiracy to dishonestly receive the stolen oil.
They are chief officer Juniar Sembiring, 37; chief engineer Hadiruddin Ibrahim, 34; second officer Mukhamad Kusnul Roekan, 31; second engineer Ferdinand Marten Gerret, 49, and able-bodied seaman Husin, 38, who are all from Indonesia.
Three other Indonesians — Ummi's captain Parlin, 33, and able-bodied seaman Joko Suparto, 38, as well as TB Support 1's chief engineer, Tohap Polman Simanjuntak, 45, — will be dealt with at a later date.
On Wednesday, the court heard that Tohap had been siphoning off his employer's oil by transferring some to the centre ballast tank of TB Support 1 with Eko's approval.
On the night of May 3, Tohap informed Eko that they had an excess of three metric tonnes of oil, and they mutually agreed that they had saved an appropriate amount for sale.
Tohap then contacted an Indonesian contact to sell them off for on the black market for S$500 per metric tonne, slightly more than a third below its market value of S$790 per metric tonne.
The contact then found a buyer in Parlin, who was then told to find TB Support 1 in the vicinity of the Tuas project area in the early morning of May 4.
At around midnight that day, the two tugboats showed up at the sea off Sultan Shoal Lighthouse, which is located within Singapore territorial waters.
To avoid detection, the crew of both vessels turned off their lights at the front as they transferred the oil using Ummi's hoses.
Ummi's crew — who planned to share the proceeds —worked together to facilitate the fuel transfer.
Parlin stayed in the wheelhouse and acted as a lookout, while Juniar, Kusnul, Ferdinand, Joko and Husin helped to secure the vessels together and connected the hoses so that the transfer can take place. Hadiruddin remained in the engine room to prepare the flow meter for the transfer and start the pump.
More than half an hour in — just when close to two metric tonnes of oil had been transferred — they realised that a boat from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was approaching, and scrambled to cease the transfer.
The MPA inspectors then boarded TB Support 1 at 12.45am and busted the illegal ship-to-ship oil transfer.
Cash amounting to S$3,800 was seized from Parlin. Ummi's crew on Wednesday admitted that part of the money was intended as payment for the illegal oil purchase.
No restitution had been made to East Marine.
During sentencing, Hadiruddin and Husin pleaded for leniency, stating that they are fathers of young children. Hadiruddin said he is a father of five, with the youngest just nine months old. Husin said his child is five months old, and he is the sole breadwinner of his family.
Eko could have been jailed for up to 15 years for the crime, while Ummi's crew could have been jailed for up to five years each.
