Issue with ship's anchors led to collision causing massive oil spill

Report flags other causes of 2024 incident including lack of proper handover processes

- Esther Loi

Investigators found that the anchors on Netherlands-flagged dredging boat Vox Maxima could not be deployed, partially causing it to strike another vessel, which resulted in the worst oil spill here in a decade.

Other causes identified in the investigation report included a lack of proper handover processes and the absence of a task-recording system.

On June 14, 2024, Vox Maxima lost engine and steering control and hit Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour, which was berthed at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

This caused 400 tonnes of oil to leak into the sea, staining the beaches at East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, Keppel Bay, the Southern Islands and Sentosa.

Cleanup operations, jointly organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), National Parks Board, National Environment Agency and Sentosa Development Corporation, took over two months to complete.

The findings by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), a department in the Ministry of Transport, also revealed that there was a third vessel - chemical tanker Super Hero - that had narrowly missed hitting Vox Maxima.

The report was published on Aug 15 and uploaded to the TSIB webpage on Aug 21.

Investigations showed that on the morning of June 14, 2024, the crew of Vox Maxima opened the circuit breakers on the right of the vessel to conduct an equipment inspection.

But they failed to restore the electric current in both circuit breakers when Vox Maxima prepared to depart the Western Working Anchorage near Sentosa for the ST Marine Shipyard in Tuas at 1.58pm.

The crew at the time included two local harbour pilots from service provider PSA Marine. Harbour pilots help to navigate vessels safely into and out of ports.