Indonesian jumped ship in Somali waters to escape abuse on Chinese fishing vessel: survivor recalls death and violence at sea

Brando Brayend Tewuh made a desperate escape attempt after suffering abuse and watching workers die on vessels belonging to the Liao Dong Yu fleet

He tells This Week in Asia he saw men being beaten until they bled and some knocked overboard in accidents, their bodies sometimes never recovered

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Indonesian Aji Proyogo died after jumping into the sea with Brando Brayend Tewuh in an attempt to escape the fishing boat. He is in the foreground with brown boots and longish hair. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00am, 3 Nov 2021Updated: 8:02pm, 3 Nov 2021

An Indonesian worker who jumped from a Chinese fishing vessel into Somali waters to escape horrific working conditions in which crew members were beaten, starved and killed in accidents has said he hopes “no one else will experience” what he and his friends suffered.

Brando Brayend Tewuh, 29, jumped from the fishing vessel with three other Indonesians in August in a desperate attempt to escape the abuse and reach the shore of Somalia. But their bid was in vain; after drifting for hours far from land three of them were picked back up by the same ship, while the fourth man is thought to have drowned.

“I will never, ever work on a ship again,” Tewuh told This Week in Asia as he recounted his ordeal, which ended soon after his escape attempt following an intervention by industry watchdogs and the Indonesian and Somali governments.

Tewuh recalled how he had worked for months without pay, “often for 24 hours at a time with no sleep and little food” after signing a one-year contract to work aboard ships belonging to the Chinese Liao Dong Yu fleet.

Brando Brayend Tewuh, right, who jumped from a Chinese fishing vessel to escape abuse. On the left, circled, is one of the men who jumped with him and is thought to have drowned in the attempt. Photo: Handout

The first fatal accident he saw came in July 2020, when he and his fellow crew members had just finished a 24 hour shift with no sleep. They were eating their lunch when a bell rang to call them back to the deck to haul up the trawler net.