SAF Terrex case: APL, container ship captain convicted in Hong Kong court

HONG KONG — A leading shipping agent and a mainland Chinese captain were found guilty on Monday (April 29) of bringing nine Singaporean military vehicles into Hong Kong without a proper licence nearly three years ago.

APL and shipmaster Pan Xuejun were convicted of breaching the city’s Import and Export Ordinance at the District Court. They face an unlimited fine, while Pan could also be jailed for up to seven years.

The APL in question is a sister company of leading cargo firm American President Lines, which is headquartered in Singapore.

While their lawyers argued during the trial that they had not a clue about the military vehicles on board the vessel they were involved in running, judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi refused to accept their explanation.

“It could not be stored in a normal container, but a flat rack container,” Judge Chan said, stressing the size of the armoured vehicles.

While there was a piece of large canvas placed on top of them as a cover, “the tyres could still be seen which could not be covered entirely”, Judge Chan said, concluding that it was not possible for them to have missed it.

The receiver, which is the defence ministry of Singapore, and the sender, that of Taiwan, also gave it away, the judge said before he handed down his verdict.

The case of the nine Terrex troop carriers threw Hong Kong and the Lion City into a rare diplomatic episode in 2016, after the armoured vehicles were found on Hong Kong’s shores without the required licence.

City officials found them aboard the container ship APL Qatar in November that year, three days after they left Kaohsiung, Taiwan, following a military training exercise.

None of the vehicles were granted a licence – issued by the director general of trade and industry – for the import of “strategic commodities”, for which the prosecutors said Singapore-based APL and Pan should be found liable.

During the 15-day trial, which started in October last year, both the firm and the shipmaster pleaded not guilty to importing strategic commodities without the necessary licence.

In particular, defence counsel Joseph Tse Wah-yuen SC, for APL, which is a locally registered non-Hong Kong company, contested that his client was only a shipping agent in charge of filing documents. Its sister company American President Lines was the actual carrier, he said.

But the judge disagreed. “APL, as the shipping operation agent, acted as the representative of American President Lines to cause the vehicle to be imported into Hong Kong,” he said.

Pan’s lawyers argued that just like a pilot, Pan should not be held liable for all the goods on board.

Judge Chan rejected the assertions, saying that Pan could not blame it on his subordinates or the shipping agent.

He said Pan was by no means just a “rubber stamp”. As a captain, he was answerable to the Hong Kong authorities for the goods he was shipping.

The court adjourned to the afternoon for what is expected to be a mitigation session.

Prosecutor Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC told the court that APL Qatar docked at Kwai Chung Container Port on November 23.

Upon inspection, he said, customs officers found a roofless container roughly eight metres long, three metres wide and four metres tall, wrapped in a metal chain and rope.

It was later proven to contain one of the Terrex vehicles, which were amphibious, carried tear gas launchers and could withstand anti-personnel mines.

Five more were found on the same deck, while three others were in storage spaces lower down.

While they were of military grade, a form which APL staff showed to the officers described them only as “vehicle”, according to Pang.

The cars, worth a total of HK$136.6 million (S$23.7 million), were impounded at the River Trade Terminal in Tuen Mun before being returned to the Singaporean government on Jan 26, 2017. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST