SINGAPORE — On July 12 last year, boatman Ong Hock Long called his mother to check if she was cooking dinner and asked her to include a portion for him.

The phone call, which took place at around 5pm, was seemingly normal, except Ong, 32, never made it home for dinner.

About an hour after the conversation took place, Ong’s bumboat caught fire and he jumped into the Singapore River near the Esplanade river bank. His body was found in the river after a 27-hour search.

During a Coroner’s Inquiry yesterday into the high-profile incident, the court was told that on the day of his death, Ong, a Singapore River Cruise employee, had behaved strangely. He was instructed to steer the battery-operated boat to Marina Bay Sands for a chartered trip at around 3pm. When he was told that his services were no longer required upon arrival, he flared up at another boatman, although Ms Dewi Sutra, a colleague who was on the boat with him, could not make out what he was saying.

He returned to Clarke Quay, and was told to make a trip to a pick-up point in the vicinity after 5pm.

But Ms Sutra told the court that Ong went in the opposite direction, towards Boat Quay, and told her to hop off his bumboat onto a passing vessel. Shortly after doing so, she saw smoke billowing from Ong’s bumboat.

Investigators found that the fire was an act of arson. Life vests — filled with foam — had been heaped together at the front of the passenger compartment and set ablaze. The enclosed compartment fuelled the fire.

Ong, who had a history of drug consumption, had traces of amphetamine, methamphetamine and alcohol in his blood.

He was also found carrying a lighter, the court was told.

Lead fire investigator Lieutenant-Colonel Choo Liew Kuan ruled out the possibility of an accident. He said the rapid development of the fire indicated that it could have been “deliberately set”. None of the three fire extinguishers on board were used.

The court was also told that the drugs in Ong’s system could have led to delusions and bizarre behaviour, and he might not have been able to respond “coherently” to avoid danger in that stressful situation.

The coroner’s findings will be delivered next Monday.