Indonesian fishermen who died on Chinese boats faced abuse, 21-hour days, interviews reveal

Four Indonesian fishermen died while working for Chinese company Dalian Ocean Fishing, in a case that has sparked a police probe and a joint investigation between Jakarta and Beijing

Crew members told lawyers and advocates they were given meagre meals and drank salty distilled seawater during their 13-month trip

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Indonesian crew members on board the Chinese fishing vessel Long Xing 629. They said they were hit and verbally abused and were forced to drink salty, distilled seawater while the Chinese crew were given bottled water. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:31pm, 12 May 2020Updated: 12:03pm, 14 Oct 2020

When 20 Indonesian fishermen boarded the Chinese vessel Long Xing 629 in February last year, they had no idea what kind of high seas hell awaited them.

The seamen, aged between 20 and 35, said they were sometimes forced to work for up to two days without rest, subjected to violence and discrimination, and faced hunger and dehydration.

Within 13 months, four of them were dead. Three of the bodies had been dumped overboard before the rest of the crew finally disembarked in South Korea last month. Those that survived returned to Indonesia last Friday, where they are still waiting for thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

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The case rocketed into the spotlight in Indonesia last week after video footage emerged of what appeared to be a burial at sea, prompting Jakarta to summon China’s ambassador for an explanation and condemn the men’s treatment by the company as “inhuman”. The Indonesian National Police’s criminal investigation unit has since launched an official probe which Beijing says it is cooperating with.

China’s foreign ministry said on Monday it was investigating the case, but added some of the allegations were “inconsistent” with information it had gathered, without elaborating.

Though the exact causes of the deaths remain unclear, testimony given by the fishermen to lawyers and advocates for the group in South Korea and Indonesia, as well as information gathered by the US-based Centre For Advanced Defence Studies (C4ADS), reveal the men toiled away in gruelling conditions before they died.

Besides being hit and verbally abused by the Chinese crew, the Indonesians said they regularly worked up to 21-hour days manning the boat’s longlines or sorting catch.