Police Are Investigating The Case Of 7 Indonesian Crew Members Of MT Shin Xing Terombang In The Myanmar Sea Since July

Kasubdit IV Ditreskrimum Polda Kepri AKBP Andyka Aer, Kamis (25/9/2025). (ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty.)

The Directorate of General Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) of the Riau Islands Police (Kepri) is investigating the recruitment process for seven Indonesian citizens who have been employed as crew members of the MT Shin Xing ship (ABK) who have been adrift in the Myanmar Sea since July 2025.

Kasubdit IV Ditreskrimum Polda Kepri AKBP Andyka Aer said his party had visited the house of one of the crew members in Batam, as well as the house of the recruiters of the crew members.

"We visited the house of one of the crew members in Batam on Tuesday (October 14), we met his wife and brother Septia Rizky," Andyka was confirmed in Batam, Tuesday, as quoted by Antara.

The middle-ranking police officer explained that his party had collected materials and information from the families of Septia Rizki and Juanda as recruiters.

Investigators visited Septia Riski's house, who served as MT Shin Xing's chief head engineer, whose address is Puri Celebrity Residence, Batu Besar Village, Batam City. Meanwhile, Juanda's house is in the Tiban 2 Batam area.

Based on information from Rizki's wife and brother, they were recruited from Batam, promised a salary of around Rp. 15 million per month as crew of the MT Shin Xing ship.

"Based on information from Rizki's wife, the recruiter named Juanda promised the crew recruited in Batam to be paid Rp. 15 million as crew," he said.

The next information was obtained that the crew members had received salaries for two months, while the other four months had not been paid.

"They were promised salaries would be paid after the ship's docking process was completed," said Andyka.

According to the information obtained, Rizki and six other crew members were recruited from Batam and dispatched to Belawan, North Sumatra. They were assigned to ship to Malaysia for docking purposes.

However, he continued, because docking costs in Malaysia were expensive, their ships were diverted to Myanmar. However, when they arrived in Myanmar waters the ship was not allowed to docking because the ship's license was incomplete.

"To Myanmar they were not accepted because the ship's documents were incomplete, in the end they did not do docking, hanging around in Myanmar waters," he said.

Currently, he said, the seven crew members of the MT Shin Xing ship have received assistance from the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon who issued a Diplomatic Note to the Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that the seven Indonesian crew members can "sing off" and return to Indonesia.

"The information we have obtained is that the seven Indonesian crew members have received assistance from the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon. It is planned that today or tomorrow they will be allowed to go to Thailand, after that the repatriation process," he said.

However, Andyka could not confirm whether the repatriation of the 7 Indonesian crew members was direct to Batam, or to Belawan.

Meanwhile, Juanda's wife explained that her husband worked on a fishing boat, and often recruited crew members to be employed.

Investigators have not been able to contact Juanda, whose wife is currently in Aceh.

"We have contacted Juanda by telephone and WA messages, but they did not respond. But he gave news to his wife," he said.

Regarding this incident, said Andyka, his party is still investigating whether there is an element of a criminal act related to trafficking in persons (TPPO) or the Job Creation law, or shipping. Because, Rizki was recruited according to the qualifications, has the license of workers in the shipping sector.

His party has received a report from Septia Rizki's wife and sister which was sent to the TIP Unit of the Ditreskrimum Polda Kepri on Monday (20/10).

"We directed the report to a public complaint (dumas), not yet a police report, we are still waiting for Rizki to come home for questioning," he said.

The seven Indonesian crew members were reported to have been neglected in Myanmar waters since July 2025. They were recruited from Batam and departed via Belawan Port, North Sumatra, on May 5, 2025.

The ship was originally scheduled for docking in Malaysia, but was instead diverted to Myanmar. The crew members have not received salaries since July, do not have official work documents and are experiencing a shortage of logistics.