Indonesia Working to Repatriate 6 Abandoned Seafarers in Philippines: MOFA

TheIndonesia.id - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it is still working to repatriate six Indonesian seafarers who are left abandoned on a vessel in the city of Tabaco in the Philippines.

Director of citizen protection at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha said on Friday, August 5, that the Indonesian seafarers have been neglected for months without any salary.

“They have been abandoned for months on the ship, and their salaries are not paid,” Nugraha said, as reported by Antara.

He added the Indonesian Embassy in Manila has been working on the case since March. It has requested Philippine authorities to immediately repatriate all six Indonesian citizens and provide healthcare to one of the seafarers of MV Sky Fortune who fell sick.

“Different coordination attempts with local authorities have been in place to speed up repatriation, including pushing for the vessel in Tabaco to be relocated to safer area,” the Ministry’s official said.

However, there are several challenges that hinder the repatriation to take place sooner.

First, there is no manning agency to contact and process because the Indonesian ship crew are non-procedural migrant workers.

“They got onto the ship in the middle of Batam waters, so they don’t have manning agency that can be held responsible,” Nugraha said.

Second, there is a compensation claim related to disruption of vessel shipping in which the captain is considered responsible.

And lastly, the vessel is currently located in Tabaco which is not one of the seaports designated for crew change.

“In regards to this, based on the latest update on August 2, Philippine authorities confirmed to the Indonesian Embassy that they would be looking for location to move the vessel to, so crew change can commence,” Nugraha revealed.

Previously, a Twitter user said their father, who works as one of the crew on MV Sky Fortune, and his six colleagues had been abandoned for seven months without being paid. They also asked for help, so their father can return home.