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Freed crewmen return to Samarinda
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The Charles 001 tugboat in a recent photo. (Kaltim Post/-)
S
ix crewmen of the Charles 001 tugboat returned to Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Sunday evening after being questioned by the Navy a day earlier about their kidnapping in Philippine waters last week and their subsequent and release.
The six crew members - Syahril, 33; Andi Wahyu, 21; Albertus Temu Slamet, 28; Reidgar Frederik Lahiwu, 26; Rudi Kurniawan, 37; and Agung E Saputra, 21 - arrived at Semayang Port, Balikpapan, on Saturday aboard the Charles 001 tugboat.
The sailors, accompanied by representatives of their company, were questioned at the naval base in Balikpapan in connection with the act of piracy in waters off Sulu on June 20 in which seven sailors were abducted.
"There was no pressure. They looked tired but they are all healthy. Some felt under the weather and tense, but that's normal," said Taufik Rahman, spokesman of shipping company PT Rusianto Bersaudara, the owner of the tugboat, as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.
After being questioned and staying overnight in Balikpapan, they were allowed to returned home.
The Indonesia-flagged tugboat was returning to Indonesia through Philippine waters last week when the boat was intercepted by two different armed groups in speedboats. Seven of the crew members were abducted in two stages over two hours by the two groups.
This is the third act of piracy this year against Indonesia-flagged vessels by Philippine armed groups. The government issued a ban on Indonesian vessels sailing to the Philippines following last week's incident. (rin)
