Settlement With Mutineers Of Taiwanese Tuna Vesselff

Eighteen mainland Chinese deckhands who commandeered a Kaohsiung-based tuna fishing boat in mid-January took control of the vessel again Tuesday after negotiations over severance pay with the Taiwan company that owns the boat were broken off. A settlement was then reached Tuesday night when the management of the Tongsong Fishing Co. -- which owns the “Tongyi 668” tuna fishing vessel -- agreed to increase the severance pay from US$50 per head to US$500. The 18 mainlanders are scheduled to fly back to China Wednesday, ending a half-month mutiny incident dating back to Jan. 12 when the “Tongyi 668” was reported missing at sea.

The 493-ton tuna fishing vessel, with 28 crew members aboard, lost communications Jan. 12 while fishing about 700 nautical miles off the west coast of the Maldives. The “Tongyi 668” was spotted sailing by the British Chagos Islands Jan. 15 towards Indonesia and Singapore, according to a spokesman for the fishing company. A representative for the Tongsong Fishing Co. flew to Malaysia Jan. 24 to look into the incident after the tuna fishing vessel was intercepted by a Malaysian navy frigate Jan. 23 after being spotted sailing erratically near Malaysian territorial waters. The officers and crew of the “Tongyi 668” were then interrogated by Malaysian authorities, who learned that the vessel had been commandeered Jan. 11 by the Chinese deckhands because of dissatisfaction with low wages and unfair treatment working aboard the vessel, according to the representative. The representative said that Chen Kuo-ching, captain of the “Tongyi 668”, phoned the company and his family in Kaohsiung from Malaysia to tell them that he was safe and had only sustained some minor injuries during the struggle with the mutineers. The representative said that his company is grateful to the Malaysian navy for intercepting the vessel before things got out of control. He quoted Chen as saying that three other officers on board also sustained minor injuries during the struggle but that they were fine. In addition to the 18 mainlanders, six Filipino nationals were working as deckhands aboard the vessel.