14-10-2023 (SINGAPORE) A 39-year-old man found himself facing charges on Saturday after allegedly making a bomb threat concerning a cruise ship.
The incident unfolded at approximately 2:30 pm on Friday when Neo Hui Ghim supposedly sent an email to Resorts World Cruises’ customer service, bearing the ominous subject line, “Bomb at Resorts World Cruises.”
As per court documents, Neo’s email to the cruise operator contained a menacing message: “please return me back my monies else the ship will explode and everyone dropped into the sea.”
Following the threat, Neo was swiftly apprehended on Friday, and he stands accused of communicating false information about a harmful device, as per a statement released by the police on Saturday.
The police were alerted to the situation at 4:03 pm on Friday when a cruise operator informed them of a suspected bomb threat aboard a cruise ship docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
In response to the threat, the police, in conjunction with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and security personnel from Marina Bay Cruise Centre, conducted a thorough inspection of the cruise ship. Fortunately, no hazardous items were discovered on board.
Through a series of follow-up investigations, officers from Central Police Division were able to ascertain the identity of the suspect and subsequently apprehend him within three hours of the initial bomb threat report.
Neo has been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for a medical evaluation.
If found guilty, he could face a prison sentence of up to seven years, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.
The additional security measures prompted by the bomb threat resulted in a temporary halt to cruise ship operations, causing a two-hour delay in the boarding process and impacting approximately 4,000 passengers.
The police emphasized their commitment to taking all security threats seriously and underlined their readiness to take action against those who spread false threats causing public alarm.
In addition to the fear and inconvenience these threats generate among the public, they also come at a cost in terms of deploying public resources to address such incidents.
Recalling a previous incident from January 2016, a hoax bomb threat posted on social media, claiming that City Hall was going to be bombed, diverted 95% of the Public Transport Security Command’s resources to respond to the threat. The perpetrator was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in jail for falsely threatening to bomb a national icon located in the heart of the city.
