PETALING JAYA, June 21 — The five Indonesian seamen who were aboard Orkim Harmony are in good spirits, showing no signs of trauma, even after being held captive by pirates for nine days.

Mawit Matin, 46, the ship’s chef, was the first of the 22 crewmen who spotted the pirates.

Indonesian Deputy Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, relaying the experience of Mawit, said the chef was in stable condition.

“He was going about his duties and went into another room to throw rubbish, when he saw one of the pirates climbing on board from the side.”

“He tried to fend them off and was shot in the waist by the aggressors,” said Hermono.

He confirmed that Mawit had identified the suspects when he was shown photographs by the authorities.

According to Hermono, two of the five Indonesian seamen decided to take a sabbatical after the incident.

“They said they would be taking some time off working at the sea, which is understandable after going through such a horrific experience.”

“The rest were in good spirits and will return to work when deemed fit,” he said.

The other Indonesians on board with Mawit are Bambang Suryawan, 43, Iwan Asriadi, 39, Nelson Hasiholan Sitorus, 35, and Ntan Kombongan, 30.

Their family members arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday evening and will be reunited with them once procedures and investigations are completed.

Hermono also suggested there should be a joint patrol operation between nations to prevent such incidents.

“It is known the Straits of Malacca is a very busy route. There should be more security patrols to deter these pirates on smaller boats.

“Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore should cooperate and patrol the waters around our borders to beef up security,” Hermono said.

Orkim Harmony and its crew were freed at 2.30am on Friday morning

The tanker was on its way to Kuantan from Malacca with a cargo of 6,000 tonnes of petrol worth RM21 million when it was hijacked.