A bunker surveyor drowned after he fell while moving from a ship to a small boat at anchor off Singapore. It happened on the evening of 17 January 2026. The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA), the flag state, published its investigation report on 10 November 2026.
The ship was the Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier Nightlife. The boat was SG Naav, a small Singapore launch that carries up to 12 passengers. A bunker surveyor checks how much fuel a ship receives. He was a 65-year-old Greek master mariner who worked as a freelance surveyor.
What happened
Nightlife was at anchor for a short, busy stop. In one afternoon the crew had a crew change, provisions, hull cleaning by divers and bunkering. The ship was empty, so its deck was about 14.8 metres above the water.
At about 19:30 local time the surveyor went down the accommodation ladder to the launch. The ladder is the long stairway on the ship's side. It was steep, at about 41 degrees. One side post on the lower platform had been removed at his request.
The launch was rolling and pitching. Its deckhand signalled him to wait, but he stepped across and fell onto the bow. The two boat crew held him but could not pull him on board. He then fell into the sea.
His lifejacket inflated but came off, because it was not fastened well. The deckhand jumped in to keep him afloat. Divers from a nearby workboat helped too. A Police Coast Guard boat lifted him out at about 20:00. He was declared dead in hospital. The post-mortem says he drowned.
What went wrong
Nobody watched the transfer. No officer was in charge of it. The ship's crew were called away to moor a bunker barge on the other side. They did not know the man was in the water.
Too many jobs at once. Bunkering, diving and the transfer all happened at the same time. The report calls this simultaneous operations (SIMOPS). Nobody assessed the risk of them together.
A hard transfer. The high deck, the steep ladder and the missing side post made the step more difficult.
The lifejacket came off. The report could not say if the straps were faulty or not done up.
The boat could not rescue him. The launch had high sides, no rescue area and no man-overboard recovery gear, only four lifebuoys.
The calls for help were not heard. The boat called "man-overboard" on VHF radio twice. The calls had no ship name or position and were not in the Mayday format. The ship's bridge did not hear them.
The ship's safety management system had no procedure for moving people to and from boats. The BMA found 10 similar deaths of surveyors, technicians and crew in recent years. In almost all of them the person had no lifejacket. Many carried a backpack, and the boat could not get them out of the water.
SOLAS, the IMO safety convention, has strict rules for pilot transfers. Today these rules protect pilots only. New rules from 1 January 2028 will also cover other people who use the ladders.
Read our story on the bosun who died while rigging a pilot ladder on World Prize.
What has changed
The BMA has updated its Information Notice 18. It now says that safe transfer equipment must be provided for anyone who boards or leaves the ship, not only pilots. That includes crew, surveyors and technicians.
The boat's operator, SeaCabbie, held a safety stand-down for its boat crews and now stops transfers when there is a safety concern. The ship manager, Alcyon Shipping, shared the lessons across its fleet. The BMA recommends that launch boats carry gear to lift a person from the water. It also asks Singapore to check this in its yearly boat inspections.
What crews can do at anchorages
Treat every boat transfer like a pilot transfer. A responsible officer should watch it, with a radio link to the bridge.
Keep a lifebuoy with a light and a heaving line ready at the ladder.
Make sure everyone wears a lifejacket that fits and is fully fastened, including crotch straps if it has them.
Do not let people carry bags on the ladder. The crews should move bags separately.
Stop the transfer if the boat is moving too much or the ladder is not safe. Anyone can stop the job.
On a busy anchorage call, tell the master if too many jobs happen at once. Ask for a short pause during each transfer.
If someone falls in, send a proper Mayday or Mayday relay with your ship name and position. Use VHF channel 16 or DSC (digital selective calling).
Bosuns and ABs often rig ladders at anchor. Find current bosun vacancies on Crewboard. For port contacts and safety helplines, see our useful links for seafarers.
Cover photo: ships at the Singapore anchorage, February 2016. Illustrative photo, not the ships in this accident. Photo: ---=XEON=---/Wikimedia Commons (Panoramio), CC BY 3.0.
Sources: Bahamas Maritime Authority: Marine Safety Investigation Report, Nightlife / SG Naav man-overboard (November 2026), Bahamas Maritime Authority: Published investigation reports.
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