Man charged with sailing yacht twice into restricted Southern Islands Live Firing Area

SINGAPORE: A man was charged on Wednesday (Oct 28) with sailing a yacht into the restricted Southern Islands Live Firing Area, a restricted military zone used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for exercises.

Quek Wee Teck, a 47-year-old Singaporean, was charged with two counts of contravening the Military Manoeuvres (Firing Ground) Rules by entering the live firing area.

Charge sheets showed that he allegedly steered a Singapore-registered pleasure craft named Artemis 1 within the live firing area close to 3pm on Dec 19, 2025.

He is accused of doing this again by steering the same craft into the Southern Islands Live Firing Area at about 4.30pm to 5.10pm on Jul 10 this year.

It is an offence for an unauthorised person to enter or remain within any firing ground.

The penalty for this is a jail term of up to six months or a fine of up to S$2,000, or both.

Quek told the court that he intends to plead guilty and will not be engaging counsel.

His LinkedIn page states that he is the chief executive officer of yacht management and maintenance firm Hydrogen Era Marine, and the managing director of yacht charter company Wanderlust Adventures.

On Hydrogen Era Marine's website, he is known as Captain Q and is the president of the Association of Boat Charter Singapore.

He is also listed as a founding member of Marine Stewards Singapore, an organisation that promotes marine sustainability.