A hearing at the State Courts of Singapore was held on Wednesday (14 August) over the alleged tampering of a mass flowmeter (MFM) by a crew of the Singapore-flagged bunker tanker formerly known as Consort Justice (IMO 9199701).
Nurharyadi was being charged under Section 5(1) Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act (Cap 50A, Rev Ed 2007) r/w Section 10(1) Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act (Cap 50A, Rev Ed 2007) but did not plead guilty.
“[The] prosecution’s allegation is you attached a magnet to the MFM while vessel was delivering marine fuel oil and purpose of the magnet was to interfere such that you could not accurately report the bunker fuel that was being transferred,” said District Judge Jasvender Kaur.
In reply, Nurharyadi claimed he was simply obeying instructions issued by his boss and was genuinely unaware of the reason for attaching the magnet.
“Your honour, I was not aware. If I do not do, I will be dropped from the job. I really do not know, I was not aware of the consequences as I am just the subordinate crew,” he told the court via an Indonesian translator.
“It was my mistake but I was instructed by my boss to place the magnet. About the risk, I am not aware. I did not receive any money from him. I do not know about siphoning oil. I just comply with instruction. I do not want to be dropped from the job.”
Following, Judge Kaur said she understood that Nurharyadi alleged he did not know the purpose of attaching the magnet to the MFM while the meter was in operation.
The Judge, who also knew a co-accused to be claiming trial, proceeded to arrange for an independent counsel to further advice Nurharyadi.
Nurharyadi in June earlier pleaded guilty to a similar charge.
The Consort Justice was chartered by Singapore bunker supplier Inter-Pacific Petroleum at the time of Nurharyadi ‘s arrest; the vessel has since been renamed as Fragrance.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has temporarily suspended Inter-Pacific’s bunker craft operator licence since 27 June 2019, until further notice.
Related: Bunker Cargo officer, crew face charges over alleged MFM tampering
Related: IPP responds to temporary suspension of bunker craft operator licence
Related: MPA temporarily suspends IPP bunker craft operator licence
Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 14 August, 2019
‘Xihe is deeply grateful to the lenders and to the Court for this opportunity,’ said the company in an official press release on Wednesday.
Notice for meeting of members of the company at 10:30am has been circulated to all known members, according to liquidators from Grant Thornton.
Legal representatives met at the High Court on Tuesday to discuss the discharge of KPMG liquidators from all liability in respect of conduct in the course of winding up, show court documents.
Creditors enter agreement to avoid ‘potentially value destructive litigation in favor of global peace’.
Suggests use of ISO 8217:2017 or MARPOL Annex VI for protection against fuel contamination while insisting on longer claim time bars from contractual suppliers.
‘Initial investigations showed that the vessel is registered in the Marshall Islands. A 50 year old captain and 15 crew of Chinese nationality were discovered onboard’, it said.
Cash of SGD 4.43 million and USD 243,100, and one piece of 100-gram gold-coloured bar recovered in safe belonging to Abdul Latif Bin Ibrahim kept at Extra Space warehouse storage facility, show court documents.
Program introduces periodic assessments, mass flow metering data analysis, and regular training for relevant key personnel to better handle the MFMS to ensure a high level of continuous operational competency.
U.S. Claims Register Summary recorded a total USD 833 million claim from a total 180 creditors against O.W. Bunker USA, according to the creditor list seen by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.
Glencore purchased fuel through Straits Pinnacle which contracted supply from Unicious Energy. Contaminated HSFO was loaded at Khor Fakkan port and shipped to a FSU in Tanjong Pelepas, Malaysia to be further blended.
Individuals were employees of surveying companies engaged by Shell to inspect the volume of oil loaded onto the vessels which Shell supplied oil to; they allegedly accepted bribes totalling at least USD 213,000.
MPA preliminary investigations revealed that the affected marine fuel was supplied by Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd who later sold part of the same cargo to PetroChina International (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
