Free: Anto Fantanto (left), Suprianto (behind) and Entis Sutisna left work they claim was brutal aboard a fishing vessel.

Two years ago, 32 Indonesian crewmen deserted the South Korean deep-sea trawler Oyang 75 in a New Zealand port. Ship jumping is a serious issue, but these men are being hailed as heroes. Duncan Graham reports from Christchurch.

Jakarta streets are unlikely to be renamed in their honor and there’ll be no national grieving when they pass away, but a few Javanese whistleblowers have made an impact on one poorly regulated industry.

“Their actions have cleared the path for other crews to follow and exposed the wrongs so many have suffered,” said the Rev. Jolyon White, social justice enabler for the Anglican Church.

His assessment was echoed by Christchurch Indonesian Society president “Nonie” Elyana Thenu and her predecessor Dr. Ani Kartikasari. “They are brave men, heroes,” they said. “What they’ve done has made a difference.”

Their words aren’t flotsam. Publicity about the plight of foreign fishing crews working on Korean boats trawling icy sub-Antarctic waters have forced the New Zealand government to radically change the way these craft operate and crews are recruited.

Striving: Christchurch Indonesian Society president “Nonie” Elyana Thenu is working to assist Indonesian fishing boat workers. New immigration rules have been introduced impacting Indonesian manpower companies. The agents must be approved, not charge workers for their services or hold collateral against the men completing their contracts.

Withholding passports, payouts, land certificates and other valuables are said to be widespread. These practices have now been outlawed.

From May 2016, foreign fishing fleets operating out of New Zealand ports will have to follow local legislation. By sailing under other flags they’ve avoided New Zealand labor laws restricting work hours, health and safety rules and minimum pay rates, currently NZ$13.75 (US$11.6) an hour.

Academics and lawyers have been helping to expose cheating, brutality and abuse allegedly suffered by Indonesians on Korean ships, but Nonie and Ani have been at the sharp end of the campaign.

There are around 150 Indonesians living in the Christchurch region. Ani, 50, arrived to study for a Ph.D. in environmental management and stayed to work at Lincoln University. Nonie, 51, followed her Kiwi husband to New Zealand 17 years ago.

Ani’s involvement started on a June afternoon in 2011 when she was called to Lyttelton, the port servicing Christchurch, a city smashed by an earthquake only four months earlier with the loss of 185 lives.

She found the 32 men shivering in a church. “They were very cold, most wearing cotton jackets,” she recalled. “The heaters on the walls were on but their faces could not hide the exhaustion and fatigue from the previous sleepless night when they discussed their plight together.

Helping hand: Dr. Ani Kartikasari began working with former fishing boat crew members in June of 2011 in Lyttelton, the port servicing Christchurch. She found 32 men there shivering in a church. “At 4 a.m. that day, they had walked off the Korean factory trawler they’d worked on for months. In the dark, they found the only church building that was still standing. They waited outside until the vicar turned up, letting them in and organizing breakfast.

“When asked later how they’d found the church to shelter them they said they had no idea where to find a mosque where they would expect to find refuge.”

There is no mosque in Lyttelton, also badly damaged by the earthquake.

For the next fortnight, government agencies and Indonesian Embassy staff interviewed the crew. Their employer tried to keep the issue quiet, but the men said they’d had enough of being underpaid and overworked, and suffering physical and verbal abuse. They also alleged illegal fishing practices.

This charge attracted the attention of New Zealand authorities. This year the Oyang 75 was fined NZ$10,500 for secretly discharging waste at sea. Last year it was fined NZ$420,000 for dumping low-grade fish.

“While all this was going on, the fishing company threatened to send them home for breach of contract,” said Ani. “Fortunately, a network of local people had started to form, offering support and this threat eventually stopped.

“However, the company refused to pay for the accommodation and food for the reason that the crewmen no longer worked for them. Their manning agents in Indonesia also started to pressure the crew to go back to work and even threatening their families back home, misinforming them that their sons and husbands were in trouble with the authorities in New Zealand.”

The ship jumpers stood firm. They were sustained by Indonesian and Kiwi supporters including one anonymous donor who gave NZ$10,000 for food and lodgings. Money was also sent to pay school fees for the men’s children.

This wasn’t the first time Indonesian crews had made the news. A year earlier, the Oyang 70 capsized 740 kilometers off the New Zealand east coast when it tried to haul in an extra large catch. Six men drowned, including three Indonesians, Heru Yuniarto, 25, Samsuri, 39, and Taefur, 35.

Their bodies were recovered and repatriated.

The coronial inquest, using evidence from Indonesian survivors translated by Ani and Nonie, found “mismanagement by the master” sank the ship. The coroner praised the crew for rescuing their mates in the absence of an emergency plan.

Nonie has been back to Java twice to help the men’s families and make a film. She has also been invited to South Korea by a human rights organization to explain how Indonesian crew are treated when working on that nation’s ships.

The two women also praised Auckland University researchers and lawyers with the international Slave Free Seas group for supporting the Indonesian fishermen. Most are now back home or on other ships having negotiated payouts.

- PHOTOS BY DUNCAN GRAHAM