Captain of cargo ship denies providing false Covid-19 information to Hong Kong authorities when he applied to enter city, pleads not guilty in court trial

Ekarat Timwatthana went on trial at Kwun Tong Court on Tuesday for allegedly deceiving health officials when he applied for a licence for his bulker to cross the Hong Kong border on August 24, 2021.

The 53-year-old Thai national pleaded not guilty to a count of fraud, an offence punishable by up to 14 years in jail but capped at two years when it is the only charge at a trial heard before a magistrate.

The court heard that in his request for a free pratique, or permission for a vessel to enter port, Timwatthana stated that nobody on board the Singapore-flagged Thor Monadic had fallen ill since its departure from Indonesia three weeks earlier.

Only after a health clearance it was revealed that two sailors had displayed severe Covid-19 symptoms by the time the application was filed.

Fifteen out of the 23 crew members, including the captain, later tested positive for the L452R mutated Covid-19 strain.

A police inquiry found the accused had contacted a local shipping agent about the availability and costs of rapid Covid-19 tests in Hong Kong, and had asked whether he and his crew members could leave the city without having to undergo quarantine if they were infected.