TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Eighty-one boat crew members from Indonesia are currently abandoned in the Chinese Sea. The men have been there for about for a week.
"They have complained to us," Imam Syafi'i, the Indonesian Seafarers' Movement's (PPI) chairman for advocacy, law and human rights, told Tempo yesterday.
According to Imam, the boat crews have been working for seven months for eight different ship companies. However, last week, they were gathered up and told to get on board the Ocean Star 98 without any clarity of their fates.
"At the moment they are at sea, told to sleep in the holds of fish storage. They're not getting decent meals and drinks," he said.
The PPI has asked for statements from the crew supplier companies. Of the eight companies, only two responded, and said their ships are under repairs.
One of the crew on board the Ocean Star 98, Candra, said he and his colleagues were initially gathered by the captain, and were told to get on. For the last week, he said, the ship only circled around the South China Sea without a clear purpose. They also don't get decent meals and beds.
"We sleep in the fish hatch," he said, adding he has no idea when the ship will dock.
CHITRA P
