Inferno at sea: Injured engineer sues tanker operators in $1.3m High Court claim

An incident in 2024 between two oil tankers, Ceres I and Hafnia Nile, resulted in the death of one crew member of the Ceres I and severe burns suffered by another on the same ship.

Published Oct 29, 2026, 05:00 AM

Updated Oct 29, 2026, 05:00 AM

An engineer who was severely burned in a fire on board one of two oil tankers involved in an incident near Pedra Branca in 2024 is seeking over $1.3 million in damages, in a case scheduled to go before the High Court in November.

On July 10, 2024, China national Ge Junfu, a 39-year-old mechanical engineer employed by DCS Power, boarded the Ceres I, an oil tanker anchored at the port in Singapore, as part of the shore maintenance crew. The following day, the vessel moved to an anchorage position in the South China Sea, about 55km north-east of Pedra Branca, to undergo repairs while awaiting further voyage orders, according to claim documents.

In the early hours of July 19, 2024, the Hafnia Nile, a Singapore-registered oil tanker, was navigating a high-density traffic lane in the South China Sea in fair weather, with good visibility.

Shortly before 6am, an accident involving the Hafnia Nile and the port anchor chain of the Ceres I occurred. The impact caused the heavy fuel oil and naphtha storage tanks of the Hafnia Nile to be damaged .

The fuel from the ruptured tanks ignited instantly, triggering a massive flash fire that swept across the water and engulfed the decks of the Ceres I. Awoken by the violent impact, Ge stepped out onto the B deck of the vessel and was engulfed by the flames.

The fire left him with deep burns covering 68 per cent of his body, resulting in severe facial disfigurement, functional loss of both hands and feet, depression and permanent disability, even after undergoing more than 40 operations.

He was one of two casualties in the blaze on Ceres I. The other casualty – Indian national Sellakkannu Shanmugasundaram, died in hospital. A total of 62 crew members were on board both vessels at the time of the incident.

Ge, through lawyers N. Srinivasan and Mark Hoh from Hoh Law Corporation, is suing four Singapore-incorporated corporate entities associated with the Hafnia Nile. In The Straits Times/Statista Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2027 survey, Hoh Law topped the field of negligence law, which covers professional, accidental and personal injuries.

Ge’s claim includes about $1.3 million in medical expenses, $43,000 in upkeep costs, and pre-trial loss of earnings, after being certified unfit for work for 388 days.

Supported by his employer, DCS Power, and its insurers, Income and Etiqa, Ge named the registered owner BW Aldrich, technical manager and crew employer BW Fleet Management, commercial ship manager Hafnia SG, and bareboat charterer Hafnia Pools as defendants.

The four defendants are denying the claim, arguing that the Ceres I was anchored in an inappropriate position and Ge was improperly housed on its deck.

Ge contends that the bridge team on the Hafnia Nile was negligent and breached multiple international regulations for preventing collisions at sea. He claimed the second mate serving as officer of the watch had insufficient rest, that automated radar collision safeguards on board the vessel were silenced or deactivated, and that the officer left the wheelhouse to complete administrative work in the chartroom.

He further alleged that the officer had taken evasive action far too late to avoid the impact.

The defendants firmly rejected liability and contested the allegations. They denied that the officer of the watch was fatigued or distracted, and maintained that he had no duties in the 12 hours preceding his watch. Instead, they shifted blame to the Ceres I, arguing that it anchored improperly within an established shipping lane and maintained a defective lookout that failed to warn oncoming vessels or take evasive manoeuvres.

The defendants mounted several other defences in relation to living conditions, legal standing and procedure. They argued that Ge’s accommodation on the open deck of a vessel was unsafe, Ge was himself negligent and his employer had breached its duty to provide safe accommodation.

They further argued that Ge lacks legal standing to personally claim medical expenses as his employer is mandated by statute to cover foreign worker medical costs, and that his claim for lost earnings is barred because insurance claims had already been filed.

Ge’s claims made reference to findings released by the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau, which the defendants rejected, stating that the safety investigations into the incident by the bureau, which is under the Ministry of Transport, are strictly inadmissible in civil court under statutory law.

A High Court pre-trial conference is due to be held on Nov 18.

Separately, two crew members of the Hafnia Nile were charged in July 2025 under the Merchant Shipping Act with failing to properly discharge their duties, causing serious damage to both the Hafnia Nile and the Ceres 1, and causing the death of Shanmugasundaram, who was on board Ceres 1. Sri Lankan Wickramage Viraj Perera was the officer in charge of the navigational watch when the incident occurred, while Indian national Soosai Anthony Vainer was the duty lookout of the watch. The cases are ongoing, and the next hearing is due in February 2027.

2024 年，两艘油轮“谷神星一号”和“哈夫尼亚尼罗号”发生碰撞事故，导致“谷神星一号”上的一名船员死亡，另一名船员严重烧伤。

发布于 2026 年 10 月 29 日上午 5:00

更新于2026年10月29日上午5:00

2024 年，在佩德拉布兰卡附近发生的一起事故中，两艘油轮中的一艘起火，一名工程师严重烧伤。他正在寻求超过 130 万美元的赔偿，此案定于 11 月在高等法院开庭审理。

2024年7月10日，中国公民葛俊福（音译），39岁，系DCS Power公司机械工程师，作为岸上维修人员登上停泊在新加坡港的“谷神星一号”（Ceres I）油轮。根据索赔文件，次日，该船驶往南海，在白礁东北约55公里处抛锚，进行维修并等待进一步的航行指令。

2024 年 7 月 19 日凌晨，一艘新加坡注册的油轮“哈夫尼亚·尼罗”号在南海一条交通繁忙的航道上航行，当时天气晴朗，能见度良好。

早上6点前不久，“哈夫尼亚尼罗”号与“谷神星一号”的左舷锚链发生碰撞。撞击导致“哈夫尼亚尼罗”号的重质燃油和石脑油储罐受损。

破裂油箱中的燃料瞬间燃烧，引发了一场巨大的闪燃，火势迅速蔓延至水面，吞噬了“谷神星一号”的甲板。葛被猛烈的冲击惊醒，走到船的B甲板上，随即被火焰吞噬。

这场大火导致他全身 68% 的皮肤严重烧伤，造成面部严重毁容、双手双脚功能丧失、抑郁和永久性残疾，即使接受了 40 多次手术也无济于事。

他是“谷神星一号”火灾中的两名遇难者之一。另一名遇难者是印度公民塞拉坎努·沙穆加桑达拉姆，他在医院去世。事发时，两艘船上共有62名船员。

葛先生通过其律师事务所 Hoh Law Corporation 的律师 N. Srinivasan 和 Mark Hoh，起诉了四家与哈夫尼亚尼罗河项目相关的、在新加坡注册成立的公司实体。在《海峡时报》/Statista 联合发布的“2027 年新加坡最佳律师事务所”调查中，Hoh Law 在过失侵权法领域名列榜首，该领域涵盖职业过失、意外事故和人身伤害。

Ge 的索赔包括约 130 万美元的医疗费用、4.3 万美元的维持费用以及审前收入损失，此前他已被认定不适合工作 388 天。

在他的雇主 DCS Power 及其保险公司 Income 和 Etiqa 的支持下，Ge 将注册船东 BW Aldrich、技术经理和船员雇主 BW​​ Fleet Management、商业船舶管理公司 Hafnia SG 和光船租赁公司 Hafnia Pools 列为被告。

四名被告否认了这一指控，辩称“谷神星一号”锚泊的位置不合适，而且“葛”号在其甲板上的安置也不妥当。

葛先生声称“哈夫尼亚尼罗”号的驾驶台团队存在疏忽，违反了多项防止海上碰撞的国际法规。他​​指出，值班二副休息不足，船上的自动雷达防撞装置被关闭或停用，而且值班人员离开驾驶室前往海图室处理行政工作。

他还声称，该警官采取规避措施为时已晚，无法避免撞击。

被告坚决否认承担责任，并对指控提出异议。他们否认值班船员疲劳或注意力不集中，并坚称其在值班前12小时内并无任何职责。相反，他们将责任推卸给“谷神星一号”轮船，辩称该船在既定航道内不当抛锚，且瞭望员失职，未能警告来船或采取规避措施。

被告方还就居住条件、法律地位和程序提出了其他几项辩护理由。他们辩称，葛某在船甲板上的住所不安全，葛某本人存在过失，且其雇主违反了提供安全住所的义务。

他们进一步辩称，葛先生没有法律资格亲自索赔医疗费用，因为法律规定他的雇主必须承担外国工人的医疗费用；而且，由于保险索赔已经提出，葛先生的工资损失索赔也被禁止。

葛先生的诉求援引了交通安全调查局发布的调查结果，但被告方驳斥了这些结果，称该局隶属于交通运输部，根据法律规定，其对该事故进行的安全调查在民事法庭上是严格不可采纳的。

高等法院审前会议定于11月18日举行。

此外，2025年7月，哈夫尼亚尼罗号（Hafnia Nile）的两名船员因违反《商船法》被起诉，罪名是未能妥善履行职责，导致哈夫尼亚尼罗号和谷神星1号（Ceres 1）两艘船均遭受严重损坏，并造成当时在谷神星1号上的沙姆加桑达拉姆（Shanmugasundaram）死亡。事发时，斯里兰卡籍船员维克拉马格·维拉杰·佩雷拉（Wickramage Viraj Perera）是值班航行值班员，印度籍船员苏赛·安东尼·韦纳（Soosai Anthony Vainer）是值班瞭望员。案件仍在审理中，下次听证会定于2027年2月举行。