MV Dromus (1938)

In August 1951 Dromus was in Singapore, and on 18 August she took on a new crew for a voyage to the Philippines.[3] On the night of 19–20 August Dromus was loading at Wharf Number 6 of the oil terminal on the island of Pulau Bukom off Singapore.[4] During the process of topping up one of her forward tanks there was an overflow of oil from her foredeck and at about 1250 hrs[5] she suffered an explosion and fire[6] that took hold from her forecastle as far aft as her central superstructure.[5]

Dromus' crew and Pulau Bukom's fire-fighting squad fought the fire. Dromus' Master, Henry Watkins had her stern mooring cables cut to help get her away from the wharf[6] and for more than an hour, efforts were made to distance Dromus from the oil terminal to prevent the fire from spreading.[4] Two Singapore Harbour Board fire-fighting tugs, Griper and Tarik, came to assist, along with five water-boats belonging to Hammer and Company based on Pulau Bukom.[5] The explosion woke hundreds of Shell employees living 1 mile (1.6 km) away.[5] They came to the terminal to help fight the fire, while their wives went to Singapore General Hospital to help to receive the injured.[5]

There was a second explosion about 20 minutes after the first, probably caused by Dromus' flexible hose parting company.[6] Survivors leapt into the sea[6] and swam to safety under petrol that had spilled onto the water around the ship.[7] The fire worsened until about 0230 hrs.[5]

The disaster killed three European officers[8] and 22 Chinese and Malayans,[9] including the ship's carpenter who was rescued but died in Singapore General Hospital of his injuries.[8][10] The hospital treated at least eight other injured, including two officers.[10] Two crew initially listed as missing were later found safe: late on the afternoon of 20 August Dromus' terrified bosun and quartermaster were found sheltering behind bushes on the far side of Pulau Bukom, 1 mile (1.6 km) from the disaster scene.[3] Most of the dead were from Dromus' crew, but five staff of the Pulau Bukom oil terminal were also among those killed.[10][11] It took days to find the bodies of some of the missing,[10] and 11 victims' bodies were so badly injured that they were never identified.[6] For the first few days there was some confusion to the total number of dead and missing.[10]

Despite the explosion, Dromus still contained a cargo of 8,000 tons of benzene and 2,000 tons of fuel oil that survived the fire.[10] After the fire was put out and the ship made safe, the cargo was discharged at Pulau Bukom.[10]

In the days immediately after the disaster the Port of Singapore's Deputy Master Attendant (equivalent to a Deputy Port Master) held an initial enquiry[9] that was completed on 29 August.[12] In September 1951 the Governor of Singapore, Sir Franklin Gimson, ordered a Commission of Enquiry.[13] The report of the Commission's findings was published in February 1952.[6] Captain Watkins and his Chief engineer, Kenneth Armstrong, were found to have acted correctly and fire precautions taken during loading were found to have been adequate.[6] The officer of the watch was found to have failed to keep a close enough eye on the topping up process,[6] but he was among the dead and so could not be interviewed or called to account. The report speculated, though without any actual evidence, that a member of the crew could have caused the accident by emerging from the crew quarters while smoking.[6]

The three officers killed were the Chief Officer Edward Dyer, Second Officer Samuel Pilling and Third Officer Edwin Hearth.[8] All three were buried at Bidadari Cemetery on 21 August.[8][14] Ten of the Chinese victims were buried at the Chinese cemetery in Bukit Timah Road.[8] In September 1951 Anglo-Saxon and Shell presented an organ to the Seafarers' Chapel in Singapore as a memorial to those killed on Dromus.[15] The Bishop of Singapore, the Rt. Rev. Henry Baines, dedicated the organ and paid tribute to the services of the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy to Singapore's development and defence.[16]

In July 1952 five people were honoured for their bravery in response to the explosion and fire. Queen Elizabeth II made Dromus' Master, Henry Watkins and Chief Engineer, Kenneth Armstrong MBEs.[17] British Empire Medals were awarded to three Malay firemen of the Pulau Bukom fire-fighting squad: Sergeant Baharun bin Mat, Corporal Rahman bin Mohammed and Corporal Mohammed Din bin Abdullah.[17]

The fire gutted Dromus' forecastle,[3] forward tanks and bridge.[2] On 14 September 1951 she was drydocked in Singapore to begin a refit estimated at S$2,000,000.[18] Dromus was fully repaired and in due course returned to service.

On 28 April 1958 at Balikpapan Harbour, in the East Kalimantan Province of Borneo, a Douglas B-26 Invader bomber aircraft, flown by the CIA and painted black and with no markings,[19] attacked the Shell oil terminal there. The Invader bombed and sank Eagle Oil and Shipping's SS San Flaviano and made an unsuccessful attack on Anglo-Saxon Petroleum's MV Daronia.[20][21][22]

Immediately after the attack Daronia left Balikpapan for the safety of Singapore, taking with her 26 of San Flaviano's rescued crew.[23] A few days later Dromus assisted by taking a further 24 of San Flaviano's crew from Balikpapan to Singapore.[23] Shell also evacuated shore-based wives and families to Singapore and suspended its tanker service to Balikpapan.[21]

Dromus remained in Shell service until 1962, when she was scrapped at Yokosuka, Japan.[2]

In 2004 Shell chartered the oil tanker Maersk Prime from the Danish shipping company Maersk and renamed her Dromus.[24] Maersk Prime is a 110,000 ton oil tanker that was built in Dalian, China in 1999.[24] In March 2010 her charter ended and she reverted to her original owners and name.[24]

• Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)