Singapore’s Public Prosecutor is pursuing legal action against the master, chief officer, and pump master of a Vietnamese chemical tanker following the death of a crewman who entered a toxic tank without proper safety checks.
The incident occurred aboard the GT Win, a 15,000 dwt tanker that arrived in Singapore on May 11, 2024, after offloading a cargo of naphtha. While anchored, Chief Officer Dao Tien Manh instructed three crew members to clean the emptied tanks without confirming oxygen levels or performing the required safety procedures.
Pump Master Le Thanh Dung, acting on the chief officer’s orders, modified a breathing mask by connecting it to an air bottle placed on deck an impractical setup given the ship’s confined spaces. During cleaning, seafarer Hoang Van Chau lost consciousness inside a tank that hadn’t been certified as gas-free. He later died in hospital from exposure to toxic fumes.
Dung initially misled investigators, claiming Chau was in a different tank, but later admitted to giving false statements. He also told authorities that the vessel’s master, Nguyen Duc Nghi, had thrown the modified mask overboard and instructed the crew to lie to ensure the deceased’s family would receive insurance money.
Dung pleaded guilty on July 2 to endangering a fellow crew member’s life and was sentenced to three months and two weeks in jail. Proceedings against the vessel’s master and chief officer remain ongoing in Singapore.
