JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Singapore jails Vietnamese tanker captain in Shell oil heist case

Singapore jails Vietnamese tanker captain in Shell oil heist case

Saturday, December 21, 2019, 10:28 GMT+7
Singapore jails Vietnamese tanker captain in Shell oil heist case
A general view of Shell's Pulau Bukom petrochemical complex in Singapore, July 15, 2019. Photo: Reuters

The captain of a Vietnamese oil tanker has been jailed for over five years in Singapore for his role in a scheme that saw around US$150 million of oil stolen from Shell’s biggest refinery over several years.

Doan Xuan Than, 47, was sentenced to 66 months in prison on Thursday, a spokesman for the State Courts of Singapore said, becoming the second person jailed in a case that also involves former employees of Royal Dutch Shell who allegedly conspired to siphon oil from the firm’s Singapore refinery.

The theft, which unfolded in the world's biggest ship refueling hub and Southeast Asia's petroleum refining hub, shone a spotlight on an illegal oil trade worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide

Than’s sentencing comes almost two years after Singaporean police raids that led to over a dozen arrests for alleged offenses dating back to 2014 in which around 340,000 metric tons of oil were filched from Shell’s refinery, which sits on an islet south of Singapore’s mainland.

Charge sheets seen by Reuters allege that Than was involved in the theft of gasoil from the Pulau Bukom refinery aboard vessels MT Gaea and Prime Sun on 10 occasions in 2016 and 2017. Than could not be reached for comment.

Another Vietnamese national was jailed for 2-1/2-years in July for related offenses, local newspaper Straits Times reported.

Besides the former Shell employees, there have been related charges filed against former employees of one of Singapore’s biggest marine fuel suppliers, Sentek Marine & Trading Pte Ltd; a Singaporean who worked for Intertek, a British-listed company specializing in quality and quantity assurance, including for fuel products; and other Vietnamese nationals who allegedly helped receive stolen property aboard ships.

Shell has previously said it was “disappointed” by what it uncovered at Pulau Bukom, was working closely with authorities and had implemented “measures to prevent this from happening again”.

Reuters

More

Read more

Hundreds of UK police sacked for misconduct

Nearly 600 police officers in England and Wales were sacked in the year to March 2024, figures showed Tuesday, as police chiefs battle to restore public confidence after a string of scandals

1 day ago
;

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Latest news