Hafnia Nile crew charged over collision with sanctioned tanker Ceres I

TWO crew members from Singapore-flagged Hafnia Nile (IMO: 9766217) have been charged over its collision last year with a shadow fleet tanker that killed one crew member and seriously injured another.

The incident, which occurred off the southeast coast of Malaysia, caused an uproar at the time and raised extensive concerns over the safety of ageing oil tankers engaged in sanctions-busting oil trades.

The seafarers charged under Singapore’s Merchant Shipping Act are 35-year-old Indian national Soosai Antony Vainer and 40-year-old Sri Lankan Wickramage Viraj Amila Shavinda Perera, Singaporean media CNA reported.

Citing charge sheets, CNA said Perera, who was the officer in charge of the navigational watch at the time, allegedly failed to fully assess the navigational risks, maintain situational awareness and ensure a proper lookout, which led to the collision with Ceres I (IMO: 9229439).

The 2001-built very large crude carrier was reported to have shown signals of manipulating its Automatic Identification System signals around the time of the incident. The ship was later detained by Malaysian authorities and sanctioned by the US in December that year for shipping Iranian oil.

The collision caused serious damage to both tankers and resulted in the death of Sellakkannu Shanmugasundaram and serious injuries to Ge Junfu, both of whom were on board Ceres I.

Vainer, who was the duty lookout, reportedly observed Hafnia Nile approaching Ceres I but did not report it to the officer in charge. He allegedly steered the vessel without direction and failed to maintain a proper lookout, contributing to the accident.

The case is being prosecuted by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, which has been approached for comments.