Costa Concordia crew members tell RNW about their ordeal

RNW, 19 January 2012, by Prita Riadhini

(Photo: ANP)

              

"I was traumatized. This has been my last voyage," said Teguh Haryono, one of the 170 Indonesians working among the ship’s crew aboard the Costa Concordia that ran aground off the Italian coast last Friday.

Mr Haryono was determined and told Radio Netherlands Worldwide* about his decision, even though he had been working on the same cruise ship for nine years. This voyage should have lasted eight months, but two months after it set sail, the Costa Concordia capsized.

When the accident happened Teguh, who worked as a waiter, was busy preparing food in the kitchen. The ship suddenly tilted and everyone panicked. Kitchen utensils fell on the floor. "When I returned to the restaurant, guests were yelling. I even told them not to panic."

Traumatic

Mr Haryono, together with other Indonesians in the crew, survived the ordeal. They received assistance from the Indonesian Embassy in Rome as well as from the Indonesian community in Italy.

"I was lucky, but this has been very traumatic for me."

Costa Concordia carried three thousand passengers and was said to have good security. Smoking bans were closely observed in rooms.

Mr Haryono said he was treated decently by the company although his salary had been reduced in the past two years.

"In February 2010, the management of Costa announced that from now on we will be paid in US dollars instead of euros due to the economic crisis. The exchange rate the management used was one dollar for one euro though euros were worth more than dollars. So I received my salary in dollars, including tips from guests, even though they gave it in euros."

The company promised that when the economic situation in Europe has improved, they will receive their salary in euros again. But nobody knows when it will happen.

Mr Haryono has been paid for two months, and the rest of his six month salary will be transferred to his account.

Captain’s errors

Sunarso Aryanto has a different story. He has been working for the Costa company for thirteen years. The tragedy that befell his ship will not shake his faith in sailing again.

When the accident took place, Mr Aryanto was serving the guests in one of the restaurants. He was supervising the buffet. Just before the incident, he took pictures with the captain and other officers.

"Frankly it was the captain’s error that the ship made a diversion from its programmed route."

Sunarso, together with his wife Jenny Rahayu who worked as a waitress, managed to survive by using a lifeboat. He said one of the Indonesian crew jumped into the water when the life raft he was in rolled over. He was then brought to the hospital.

"The company was very pleased to employ Indonesian people. According to the management, crew from some other countries are difficult to manage and arrogant," Sunarso told RNW.

The 170 Indonesian crew members were flown back to Indonesia in groups. The embassy in Rome received assistance from other Indonesian embassies such as those in Belgium and in the Netherlands. Other assistance came from the Indonesian community living in Italy, who supplied the crew with daily necessities while they were accommodated in hotels across Rome. Despite reports of a delay in providing assistance, Sunarso was very satisfied with the help provided by the Indonesian embassy.

* Teguh Haryono and Sunarso Aryanto were speaking to RNW's Indonesian service.

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