Legal

Golden Eagle Shipping sues charterer over contaminated bunkers

Norvic Shipping International faces minimum $555,000 claim for alleged damages to M/V Golden Eagle.

Published

7 years ago

August 12, 2018

Admin

Golden Eagle Shipping LLC (GES), the registered owner of bulker M/V Golden Eagle, has taken Toronto-based dry bulk vessel operator Norvic Shipping International (NSI) to court over a case of alleged contaminated bunkers.

The bunkers were lifted at Balboa, Panama during a bunkering operation on or about 9 June, according to court documents filed on 8 July at the U.S. District Court of Louisiana obtained by Manifold Times.

“These bunkers were isolated on the vessel and were not consumed immediately,” it said.

“The vessel started to burn the bunkers supplied by the defendant on or about July 1, 2018 […] began experiencing mechanical difficulties including a breakdown of the main engine.”

GES noted the M/V Golden Eagle experiencing a series of mechanical problems lasting 14 days which resulted in the vessel seeking refuge at Ponta Delgada, Portugal for emergency repairs.

“The vessel then proceeded to Ghent, Belgium where arrangements were made with the defendant and third party vendor from whom they purchased the bunkers for (i) joint inspection of the damage of the vessel, and (ii) jointly obtaining samples of the contaminated bunkers, and the plaintiff arranged for discharging the contaminated bunkers from the vessel (which efforts commended at Ghent but due to the vessel’s itinerary were suspended and are not yet completed, and are likely to now complete in Turkey later in August 2018).”

GES is seeking a minimum of $555,000 in damages from NSI due to the development.

A breakdown of the monies are as follows:

$200,000 in physical damages and other expenses incurred to divert the vessel to a port of refuge for emergency repairs
$200,000 in loss of charter hire
$55,000 in lost bunkers
$100,000 for debunkering, sampling, testing and inspections, etc

GES intends to claim against the bunkers aboard NSI’s time chartered vessel M/V Josco Suzhou which is currently sailing within U.S. waters.

Another case concerning alleged contaminated bunkers between Meadway Shipping and Trading Singapore and Integrity Bulk ApS was filed at the U.S. District Court of Maryland in late July.

Published: 13 August, 2018

Vessel Arrest

Malaysia: MMEA detains Singapore-flagged bulker for illegal anchoring in Perak

“Queen Harmony”, operated by an Egyptian captain along with one Russian, two Ukrainians and 17 Filipino crew members, was detained about 13 nautical miles northwest of Pulau Jarak.

Published

20 hours ago

March 20, 2025

Admin

Malaysia: MMEA detains Singapore-flagged bulker for illegal anchoring in Perak

Perak Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Tuesday (18 March) detained a Singapore-flagged bulk carrier for anchoring without permission about 13 nautical miles northwest of Pulau Jarak at 3.30pm on 17 March.

Perak MMEA director Maritime Capt Mohamad Shukri Khotob said the vessel, Queen Harmony, was operated by an Egyptian captain along with one Russian, two Ukrainians and 17 Filipino crew members.

Further investigation found that the ship failed to present any documents for permission to anchor and did not report their arrival in Malaysian waters.

The case is being investigated under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952, which carries a fine of not more than MYR 100,000 or a jail term of not more than two years, or both, for anchoring without permission. It is also being investigated for the offence of failing to report its arrival, which carries a fine of up to MYR 5,000.

Two crew members of the ship were taken to the Perak State Maritime Headquarters for further investigation.

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 20 March, 2025

Winding up

Singapore: Final meetings scheduled for Flores Shipping and related companies

Other companies involved in the matter are Lombok Shipping and PACC Banda; meetings will be held at 600 North Bridge Road, #05-01 Parkview Square, Singapore 188778.

Published

4 days ago

March 17, 2025

Admin

The final meetings of members of Flores Shipping Pte Ltd and related companies, have been scheduled to take place on 14 April, according to the company’s liquidators on a notice posted on Friday (14 March) on the Government Gazette.

The other companies involved in the matter are Lombok Shipping Pte Ltd and PACC Banda Pte Ltd.

The meetings will be held at 600 North Bridge Road, #05-01 Parkview Square, Singapore 188778 at the following times:

Flores Shipping: 9am
Lombok Shipping: 9.30am
PACC Banda: 10am

The meetings will be held the purpose of having an account laid before the members showing the manner in which the winding up has been conducted and the property of the company disposed of and of hearing any explanation that may be given by the liquidators.

The details of the liquidators are as follows:

Victor Goh
Khor Boon Hong
Marie Lee
Joint Liquidators
C/o Baker Tilly
600 North Bridge Road
#05-01 Parkview Square
Singapore 188778

Note: Pursuant to Section 181 of the Companies Act 1967, a member entitled to attend and vote at this meeting is entitled to appoint another person or persons as his/her proxy to attend and vote in his/her stead. Proxies to be used at the meeting must be lodged at the Office of the Liquidators not later than 48 hours before the meeting.

Photo credit: Benjamin-child
Published: 17 March, 2025

Legal

Dutch crew members plead guilty over their role in major 2024 Singapore bunker spill

Merijn Heidema, Eric Peijpers, Martin Hans Sinke, and Richard Ouwehand, who are crewmen of dredger “Vox Maxima”, pleaded guilty for failing to discharge their duties properly at the State Courts on 12 March.

Published

1 week ago

March 13, 2025

Admin

Four Dutch crew members of Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima, which crashed into a Singapore-flagged bunker vessel in 2024 and caused a major bunker spill in Singapore, on Wednesday (12 March) pleaded guilty for failing to discharge their duties properly, according to media reports.

Merijn Heidema, 26, Eric Peijpers, 56, Martin Hans Sinke, 48, and Richard Ouwehand, 49, pleaded guilty to one charge each under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 at the State Courts.

Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour was hit by Vox Maxima at Pasir Panjang Terminal on 14 June last year, which resulted in an oil spill in Singapore waters.

The crash caused one of Marine Honour’s oil cargo tanks to rupture, releasing 400 metric tonnes (mt) of low-sulphur fuel oil into the sea.

The dredger lost propulsion and steering control before crashing into Marine Honour.

Court documents reportedly revealed that on the morning of 14 June 2024, a circuit breaker controlling the flow of electrical power from one of the dredger’s main generators to a step-down transformer was opened for maintenance works to be conducted.

The circuit breaker remained open after the maintenance works were completed that morning.

Peijpers, a second engineer, and Heidema, a third engineer, who were the officers in charge of the engineering watch at the time, did not check the condition of the circuit breakers.

This eventually led to another circuit breaker tripping, which then led to the loss of steering and propulsion control of the dredger.

Heidema and Peijpers also failed to ensure a sufficient reserve of power was available for Vox Maxima’s steering gear when the engine room was put in a standby condition.

Upon the loss of steering control, both Ouwehand and Sinke, who were responsible to carry out emergency steering, did not do so.

The prosecution sought fines of between SGD 40,000 and SGD 50,000 each for Heidema and Peijpers and fines between SGD 20,000 and SGD 30,000 each for Ouwehand and Sinke.

The four Dutch crew members are expected to be sentenced on 2 April.