Nine Britons are charged over Singapore yacht party that broke coronavirus rules

• Nine Britons aged between 26 and 32 could face six months in a Singapore jail 
• An investigation found the party broke the rules which limited gatherings to five 
• Singapore has come down hard on rule violations after keeping infections low 

Nine Britons have been charged for holding a Boxing Day party in Singapore which broke coronavirus rules when only five people were allowed to gather outdoors. 

The nine Britons aged between 26 and 32 could be jailed for six months or fined up to £5,500, or both, over the party on board the pleasure craft Advant.

The yacht has also had its licence suspended by Singapore’s maritime authorities after photos of the gathering were widely shared on social media. 

One permanent resident of Singapore also faces the same charge of joining in the bash near Lazarus Island without reasonable excuse.    

Pictures of a Boxing Day yacht party in Singapore (above) went viral on social media and led to an investigation which found that the gathering had broken coronavirus rules 

An investigation by Singapore’s port and maritime authority found that the craft was ‘chartered for a social gathering’, adding that there was ‘co-mingling’ on board. 

According to Singapore-based media, two of the defendants told a court today that they plan to plead guilty on March 1. 

The other eight have had their cases adjourned to February 26, while the 30-day suspension of the yacht licence was announced on January 23. 

Singapore has kept its virus outbreak relatively small, reporting around 60,000 cases and only 29 deaths, but has taken a tough stand against rule violations.  

The port authority ‘takes a very serious view of any breach of safe management measures and will not hesitate to take the parties involved to task,’ it warns.  

In June last year, four British men were banned from working in Singapore after going on a pub crawl in a breach of coronavirus curbs.

The nine Britons aged between 26 and 32 could be jailed for six months or fined up to $7,500, or both, over the party on board the pleasure craft Advant

British expats were also blamed for a Christmas Day party in Sydney, leading to threats of deportation for the revellers who allegedly broke coronavirus rules. 

Describing the revellers as ‘predominantly British and Irish’, witnesses at Bronte Beach said people had gradually congregated as ‘music played and people got drunker’ before ‘more and more people showed up by the minute’. 

Some of the revellers were thought to be British backpackers who were already in the country and remained there during the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, Dubai welcomed tourists with open arms over the holiday season in a bid to revive its crucial tourism and hospitality sectors. 

A series of glamorous influencers and British reality stars flocked to the UAE, some of them claiming that their trips were essential for work reasons.  

But the emirate has since been blamed for exporting new strains of the virus around the world and has seen an alarming rise in infection rates at home. 

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