‘Hold on brother’: final days of doomed crew on Chinese shark finning boat

Accounts from Indonesian crew on illegal fishing operation reveal inhumane' conditions including bodies dumped at sea

When Sepri and Ari boarded a Chinese tuna fishing vessel in February 2019, the 24-year-old best friends were excited at the prospect of working together and having adventures at sea. Lured by the promise of high wages after being jobless back in their village in Indonesia, they told their families they would bring home a lot of money" and make them proud.

Neither of them saw their families again. Both men died at sea after weeks of agony: working 18-hour days without adequate food or water and under the threat of violence, according to survivors who gave harrowing accounts of the deaths to the Guardian - including their bodies being thrown overboard.