163 Indonesian sailors stranded in Trinidad and Tobago

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Sun, October 21 2012, 9:48 PM

At least 163 Indonesians working on foreign fishing vessels have been stranded at sea off the Trinidad and Tobago coastline for months after the owners of their boats left them in limbo.

The Indonesian workers were crew on four Taiwanese fishing boats belonging to a company which has been declared bankrupt, according to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

Some Vietnamese crew were also reportedly on the stranded boats.

Contacted on Sunday, Michael Tene, the spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, confirmed the situation.

“The Indonesian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, has been taking care of the case,” Michael told The Jakarta Post.

He slammed the operator of the boats who, he said, should have been responsible for the fate of the crew regardless of any problems the company might have been suffering.

Michael denied reports saying that the ill-fated sailors had not been taken care of or that they had been dependant on help from local people for their meals and other basic needs.

“The embassy people from Caracas have provided them with sufficient food,” he said.

Michael pledged that the Indonesian Government would make every possible effort to bring the crew members home. “Within this week, a team will be dispatched to Trinidad and Tobago to assess the situation. It is likely that the government will facilitate their return to Indonesia,” he said.