Oyang 70: Photo credit - NZDF)
RI crew on stricken ship ill-prepared, say NZ Police
Indonesians crewing a doomed trawler were not trained in evacuation procedures, had not been taught to launch lifeboats and could not understand orders, a coronial inquest in New Zealand was told yesterday. (Mon 16 April).
Five Indonesians from Tegal on the north coast of Central Java died when the 38-year old Korean ship Oyang 70 sank in the Southern Ocean on 20 August 2010. It capsized after trying to lift a massive haul of fish.
Police evidence read to the inquest revealed a culture of fear, ignorance, uncertainty and language barriers on board the ship, which was ruled by an “angry man … who cared more for fish than the safety of his crew (and where) complainers could lose their jobs.”
The Korean skipper Hyonki Shin went down with his ship, “hugging a post and crying while drinking clear liquid from a bottle.”
A life jacket offered by one of the Indonesians was rejected by Mr Shin. No orders were given to launch life rafts so the Indonesians took the initiative and released the boats.
Only the bodies of Samsuri, 39, Taefur, 35 and Heru Yuniarto, 25 were recovered. There’s been no sign of the other Indonesians, Tarmidi and Ha’arais, or the skipper.
The men’s widows have been paid compensation of NZ$12,000 (Rp 90 million) with extra if they have dependants. The money has come from the NZ Government, not the Korean ship owners or their insurers.
There were 51 men on board the Oyang 70. Thirty-six were Indonesians the rest Koreans and Filipinos with one Chinese. The 1,600 tonne ship was owned by the Sajo Oyang Corporation, which recruited the Indonesians through an agent in Java.
Much of the first day of the week-long inquest before Wellington coroner Richard McElrea was taken up with Detective-Sergeant Michael Ford reading survivors’ statements.
Their evidence included stories of regular engine breakdowns, having to work up to 20 hours followed by a three-hour break, living in leaky cabins with cockroaches, working in a flooded engine room and not understanding orders shouted in Korean.
There were no Indonesians at the inquest, though NZ lawyer Craig Tuck, who is not charging for his services, represents the families. He’s a member of the NGO Slave-Free Seas, which is working to improve conditions on foreign-crewed ships.
They men told police that around 3.30 am on the day of the tragedy they were ordered to pull in the net even though batteries had not been fitted to an electronic sensor designed to check the size of the catch.
The haul of southern blue whiting was “extremely large … the biggest ever seen”, probably close to 80 tonnes. The net became wedged on the stern.
Late and unsuccessful attempts were made to cut the net and dump some of the load, which dragged the boat down on the port side. Water flooded in. Measures to right the trawler failed.
There was “shouting and crying … yelling and banging” as the crew jumped into the icy waters, 750 kilometers east of NZ’s South Island.
The ship sank within ten minutes. The men were rescued by another fishing boat and have since returned to Indonesia.
The tragedy was followed four months later by the sinking in the Southern Ocean of another Korean ship, the No 1 Insung with the death of 22 men, including two Indonesians.
(First published in The Jakarta Post 17 April 2012)
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