The grief-stricken parents of a 15-year-old British girl who was killed in a snorkelling accident during a fieldtrip to the Maldives have sued her school for negligence.

Jenna Chan died on a compulsory school expedition in November 2024 during a week-long trip assisting the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), a UK-registered charity.

The teen had entered the water at the beginning of the whale shark excursion when she was struck by the boat’s rotating propeller on the underside of the vessel. 

She was retrieved from the underside of the boat by her teachers and hauled up to the vessel with the help of her fellow classmates, before regaining consciousness briefly and whispering ‘help me’.

She was pronounced dead at a local health centre less than an hour later. 

Jenna’s parents, Jennifer Liauw and Alan Chan, today filed a negligence claim in the General Division of the High Court of Singapore against the international school that she attended, St. Joseph’s Institution International Ltd (SJII).

While litigation was not their preferred path, the claim follows more than 20 months of seeking accountability through other channels, the parents allege.

‘We did not want to be here,’ said Jennifer. ‘For over a year and a half we asked the school to work with us to find out what happened so this can never happen to another child. Every door was closed. This claim is about accountability, and about making sure Jenna is the last.’

Jenna Chan, 15, died on a compulsory school expedition in November 2024 during a week-long trip assisting the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP)

From left to right: Mr Alan Chan, Dr Jennifer Liauw, their daughter Jenna, who died during an SJI International school trip to the Maldives in November 2024, and her sister Alice

Alice and Jenna Chan with their father Alan 

The claim, filed on the day Jenna would have turned 17, alleges serious failures in the school’s basic duty of care to students participating in mandatory activities.

It also raises broader questions around overseas school trip safety and the role of MWSRP, the UK charity engaged by the school to facilitate the fatal expedition. 

A Grade 9 triple science student, Jenna had hoped to become a doctor, like her mother. 

She died during the whale shark expedition in the South Ari Marine Protected Area, taking part in a mandatory requirement for promotion to the next academic year. 

On the morning of the tragedy, her parents allege that all three MWSRP guides left the vessel to check on a dolphin. 

According to their Statement of Claim, the boat’s engine was engaged while Jenna and another student were in the water. 

The parents allege that the guides were also in the water – far from the boat – when Jenna was struck by its propeller.

The guides had to be returned to the boat with the assistance of a nearby vessel, they added.

The parents claim that the expedition guides failed to provide adequate supervision, and left the SJII students who were under their care unattended.

At the time of the incident, none of the guides were close enough to supervise the students’ entry into the water, or, after the incident, render timely assistance to Jenna, they allege.

After Jenna was struck by the propeller, MWSRP and the boat crew onboard failed to take reasonable steps to render potentially life-saving assistance to her, they claim.

This included failing to contact appropriate emergency medical services such as the Maldives Coast Guard or sea ambulance services to expedite her transfer to a hospital, or to provide adequate first aid or trauma management during transit.

The vessel lacked emergency contact information, procedures or signage, they claim, and was not fitted with a propeller guard despite the known risk of propeller injuries.

It allegedly didn’t carry adequate first aid and trauma response equipment, such as emergency oxygen, which reportedly had to be obtained after the incident by a neighbouring diving boat.

Jenna pictured on the day she travelled to the Maldives. Her family says  there was ‘no real investigation’ into the accident and believe there was a ‘chain of errors’ throughout the excursion

[File photo] Jenna died during the whale shark expedition in the South Ari Marine Protected Area, taking part in a mandatory requirement for promotion to the next academic year

Jenna’s parents have accused the school of negligence, as well as those it relied on to deliver the expedition, including MWSRP, the captain and boat crew. 

According to their claim, the school failed to properly vet the Maldives as a destination, despite what they describe as a documented pattern of marine tourism fatalities in the same waters, including a fatal propeller incident in the year before Jenna’s death.

The school also failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that MWSRP was a suitable and qualified vendor to run excursions for school children, the parents claim.

They added that SJII didn’t take reasonable steps to ensure that the place where the marine activities would be conducted was safe for a school outdoor education programme.

Nor did the school check tidal conditions and current strengths before involving the students in marine activities, they claim.

Despite this, SJII gave parents and students repeated safety assurances which were allegedly not borne out, including that the school had ‘all emergency procedures in place’ for ‘every single scenario that can happen’.

The parents said that the school failed to ensure adequate supervision of its students at the critical moment. 

SJII has allegedly denied that it owes Jenna any ‘positive non-delegable duty of care to protect and safeguard her from the risk of harm’.

The claim alleges that the school refused to share information on its ongoing investigations, or to work with the family to investigate the circumstances leading to Jenna’s death. 

The parents said that the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) previously announced that it would not investigate SJII’s management over the incident because SJII, as a privately funded school with autonomy over its operations, policies and governance, had adhered to its safety processes for overseas trips. 

At the time of her death, Jenna’s older sister Alice, 17, started a GoFundMe to raise awareness over the horrific accident and to help with legal fees as the family fights to get answers. 

‘My sister, 15 year old British-Singaporean Jenna Chan, was killed in a propeller accident during a school trip in the Maldives’, the caption for the fundraiser said.

‘There has been silence from the Maldivian government and all news about her has ceased. 

‘The circumstances leading to her sudden death and negligence of the company is truly shocking to our family and her teenage friends, who witnessed her death.

‘Please help support us during this tough time for our family and loved ones, and spread the word about her case. 

‘All donations will go towards our fight for Jenna and protection of all future children and tourists, by providing our Maldivian lawyers with the legal fees and financial support to take more cases just like this one.’

The fundraiser has so far raised nearly £7,327 of its £10,000 target. 

‘Jenna was just sunshine. She was the warmest, smiliest person. She held the family together for us. She was her sister’s soulmate. She wanted to be a geriatrician because she loved old people. She was always helpful,’ her family told the Times.

The Daily Mail contacted St. Joseph’s Institution International for comment.