"We have already identified them, but we still cannot release the details to the media as the first side that has the right to know is their families," Foreign Affairs Ministrys Director of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities Lalu Muhammad Iqbal stated here on Tuesday.
Besides identifying the 21 Indonesian nationals, Iqbal noted that the government had contacted five agencies that had sent them to Taiwan.
"We will hold a meeting with the agencies today. There are five agencies based in Tegal (Central Java)," he added.
The five agencies are PT Media Maritim Tegal, PT Mutiara Jasa Bahari, PT Binar Jaya Pratama, PT Puncak Jaya Samudra, and PT Bima Samudera Bahari.
Based on the latest information from the Taiwanese authority, Iqbal said they had sent three vessels, which were located near the site to comb the area, and they reported that no debris or oil spills were spotted in the area.
The exact location of Hsiang Fu Chuen when it lost contact was 1.7 thousand miles from the Falkland Islands coastline.
Iqbal stated that the 700-ton capacity ill-fated vessel had 49 crew members onboard, which comprised a Taiwanese captain and a technical head, 21 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos, 11 Chinese, and two Vietnamese.
According to Iqbal, Hsiang Fu Chuen lost contact on February 26, 2015, and was declared missing the same day. However, the Ministry received the information only last week.
The Taiwanese vessel was last contacted at 3 a.m. local time, on February 26, when it was located around Falkland Island and was en route to the South Atlantic Ocean.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
