A Singapore court has sentenced the captain of a Vietnam-registered gas/chemical tanker to 14 months in prison after he admitted lying to authorities about the circumstances of a fatal onboard accident that occurred in 2024.
In May 2024, MV GT Win, a 15,000 DWT tanker carrying naphtha, arrived at a Singapore anchorage after discharging cargo. The next day, crew were ordered to clean tanks that had not been certified gas-free. One crewman entered a tank and lost consciousness from exposure to volatile hydrocarbons. He was taken ashore and later pronounced dead in hospital.
Prosecutors found that the chief officer had failed to check oxygen levels and that a pump master had modified breathing apparatus in ways that were unsafe for confined-space entry. After the fatality, the captain instructed crew to conceal the true events from the police and maritime authority. Prosecutors said he discarded evidence and directed crew to give false statements to investigators.
The captain pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment. In a related case, the pump master pleaded guilty in 2025 to performing a rash act that endangered lives and received a jail term of three months and two weeks. The chief officer who ordered the unsafe tank entry still faces charges.
