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Singapore: DPPs appeal stricter sentence for ex-Lukoil fuel oil trader who exploited internal loophole

David John Kidd amassed losses of over SGD 1 million to Lukoil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd through multiple irregular trades with Transocean Oil over a four-month period in 2016.
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Singapore Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) on Monday (3 August) submitted an appeal to the High Court of the Republic of Singapore for an increased jail term of David John Kidd, a 32-year-old male Singapore permanent resident and British citizen formerly employed by Lukoil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Lukoil).

A District Judge on 13 March 2020 sentenced Kidd, who started serving his sentence on 23 March 2020, to 36 weeks’ imprisonment; the DPPs are now appealing to the High Court to increase his jail sentence to 18 months (72 weeks), according to a court document obtain by Manifold Times.

Kidd was the sole trader responsible for a high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) contract with Transocean Oil Pte Ltd (Transocean) between April and September 2016, where Transocean agreed to purchase 50,000 metric tonnes of HSFO on a monthly basis from Lukoil.

His job was to enter the trade into Lukoil’s internal computer system (the ETRM system) whenever Transocean made a HSFO purchase from Lukoil; the operation also required him to hedge the trade to cover Lukoil’s price exposure through the purchase of oil futures or swaps.

However, the DPPs noted Kidd entering the trades in an untimely manner on 18 occasions between April to July 2016 into the ETRM system.

“The delay allowed him to speculate on market conditions, to wait for a more favourable price to hedge the trade. He did so in order to gain a financial advantage for the contract, knowing this would translate into a better bonus for himself if the contract performed well,” they explained.

Kidd backdated the trade in the ETRM system without hedging the trades on the same day on each of the 18 occasions; the delay in performing the hedges caused losses to Lukoil totalling USD 755,260 (equivalent to SGD 1,024,208) for 17 of the trades.

He entered false mark-to-market (MTM) updates into the ETRM system in an attempt to cover the losses and created an impression that there would be future sales of HSFO by Lukoil at a profit; the activity in turn created a false impression of unrealised gains, which were then factored into Lukoil’s daily Profit & Loss statements.

“The net effect within the ETRM system was that the losses caused by the Respondent’s late hedges were effectively negated or mitigated by the false MTM updates. This helped conceal the losses incurred by the Respondent from Lukoil’s Risk department,” added the DPPs.

The legal team reasoned a stiff sentence will act as general deterrence to deter like-minded individuals from engaging in offences of a similar nature and recommended the court to adopt “an uncompromising stance in meting out severe sentences” to protect Singapore’s international recognition as a reputable trading and financial hub.

“Actions from individuals like the Respondent threaten Singapore’s reputation in the bunkering industry and a stiff sentence is therefore warranted to deter others from gaming the system,” they said.

To date, Kidd has not provided restitution to Lukoil.

The High Court has reserved judgment to a later date.

 

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 6 August, 2020

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Winding up

Singapore: Liquidators of Nan Ho Maritime, Nan Xin Maritime issue notices of dividend

Nan Ho Maritime’s second interim dividend and Nan Xin Maritime’s second and final dividend are payable from 4 September, according to Government Gazette notices.
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19 hours ago

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September 7, 2026

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Notices of dividend for Nan Ho Maritime Pte Ltd and Nan Xin Maritime Pte Ltd, which are currently in creditors’ voluntary liquidation, were published on the Government Gazette on Friday (4 September). 

The following are the details of the notice for Nan Ho Maritime:

Name of Company : Nan Ho Maritime (Pte.) Ltd. (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 200814315C
Address of Former Registered Office : 21 Bukit Batok Crescent, #22-70 WCEGA Tower, Singapore 658065
Amount per centum : 2.305 per centum of all admitted ordinary claims
First and Final or otherwise : Second interim dividend
When Payable : 4 September 2026 onwards
Where Payable : c/o AAG Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd., 11 Collyer Quay, #07-02 The Arcade, Singapore 049317

The following are the details of the notice for Nan Xin Maritime:

Name of Company : Nan Xin Maritime (Pte.) Ltd. (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 201701966W
Address of Former Registered Office : 21 Bukit Batok Crescent, #22-70 WCEGA Tower, Singapore 658065
Amount per centum : 3.980 per centum of all admitted ordinary claims
First and Final or otherwise : Second and final dividend
When Payable : 4th day of September 2026 onwards
Where Payable : c/o AAG Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd., 11 Collyer Quay, #07-02 The Arcade, Singapore 049317

 

Photo credit: Benjamin Child
Published: 7 September, 2026

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LNG Bunkering

Singapore-based EPS takes delivery of three LNG dual-fuel bulk carriers

Three vessels are the third, fourth and fifth in the company’s series of 14 Newcastlemaxes being built at the yard, and were delivered five months ahead of their contracted delivery dates.
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September 7, 2026

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Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) on Friday (4 September) announced the naming and delivery of three new LNG dual-fuel Newcastlemax bulk carriers from China’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding. 

Cyril Ducau, CEO of EPS, said the vessels were named Mount Victoria, Mount Yulong and Mount Wuyi. 

The three vessels are the third, fourth and fifth in the company’s series of 14 Newcastlemaxes being built at the yard, and were delivered five months ahead of their contracted delivery dates.

“A big thank you to CSSC Group and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, working alongside our EPS team, for the tremendous collaboration and commitment behind this achievement,” Ducau said in a social media post.  

 

Photo credit: Eastern Pacific Shipping
Published: 7 September, 2026

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Port & Regulatory

ISWG-GHG 22: IMO working group aims to present NZF text at MEPC 85

The Chair expressed his observation of a genuine willingness within the Group to make concrete further progress at the next ISWG-GHG meeting and work towards presenting text to MEPC 85.
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September 7, 2026

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The Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 22) met for its 22nd meeting from 1 to 4 September 2026, chaired by Mr. Sveinung Oftedal (Norway), according to the International Maritime Organization on Friday (4 September). 

According to a meeting summary by IMO, the meeting had a high level of participation, with nearly 1200 registered participants, in person and online.

During the meeting participants considered the following agenda items:

Consideration of proposals, including documents submitted to MEPC 84 and 85, previous sessions of ISWG-GHG, as well as documents submitted to ISWG-GHG 22, on how to address concerns with the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on the Net-Zero Framework, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy

Following constructive discussions, the Chair expressed his observation of a genuine willingness within the Group to make concrete further progress at the next ISWG-GHG meeting and work towards presenting text to MEPC 85 that adequately addresses the noted progress made in the consideration of proposals on how to address concerns raised regarding the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on the mid-term measure.

The Group invited interested delegations to continue to consult intersessionally to address remaining concerns with the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy, taking into account views expressed at the Group’s session, with a view to submitting concrete proposals reflecting enhanced convergence allowing timely adoption and effective implementation.

Further consideration of the draft guidelines supporting the uniform and effective implementation of IMO’s mid-term measures.

The Group held a preliminary exchange of views on this agenda item, although time became a limiting factor and the Group and agreed to defer the consideration of all documents submitted to this session under this agenda item to ISWG-GHG 23 (23-27 November 2026).

Further consideration of the development of the IMO Life Cycle GHG Assessment (LCA) framework.

Due to time constraints, the Group was not able to consider the agenda item related to the IMO Life Cycle GHG Assessment (LCA) framework. The Group deferred the consideration of those documents to ISWG-GHG 23, in conjunction with the report of the fourth meeting of the GESAMP-LCA Working Group expected to be submitted to MEPC 85.

Next steps

The next meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 23) is scheduled for 23 to 27 November 2026, ahead of MEPC 85 (30 November to 3 December).

The second extraordinary session of MEPC (adjourned last October) is scheduled to resume on 4 December, subject to discussions at MEPC 85.

 

Photo credit: International Maritime Organization
Published: 7 September, 2026

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