Pacific / Indonesia
The debt and abuse that followed a crew to sea
Treasury’s 2022 action identifies Dalian Ocean Fishing and Li Zhenyu in connection with serious abuse.
Sanctions & labor findingsWorker events and recruitment cases through 2021; sanctions 2022 · Reviewed September 8, 2026
What the record establishes
Treasury’s 2022 action identifies Dalian Ocean Fishing and Li Zhenyu in connection with serious abuse. CBP announced a fleet-wide Withhold Release Order in May 2021. Tansa and its reporting partners documented recruitment, debt, pay and deaths associated with the fleet. Their investigation reports five recruitment-agency personnel convicted of either trafficking or unlawful recruitment; those are not interchangeable offenses, and the underlying Indonesian judgments have not been independently examined for this dossier.030910
Why it matters
The route begins before boarding. Recruitment terms, debt, wages and the ability to leave determine whether a person is free to stop working. A record of illness or a death is important, but coercion and responsibility must be established from additional evidence. Remedies matter as much as exposing the original abuse.
The sequence
U.S. import restriction announced
CBP announced a Withhold Release Order covering the Dalian fleet. This is the historical action, not a fresh certification of current WRO status.09
Treasury designation
Treasury designated the company and Li Zhenyu under its human-rights sanctions authority.03
Selected SDN entries rechecked
The company and individual remained in the retrieved official SDN list.11
Responses and legal posture
The linked record does not establish a separate response obtained by this project. No outreach was conducted for this file.
What remains unresolved
identify each recruiter and defendant from original proceedings; obtain precise judgments and compensation outcomes. Treat the 2021 WRO as a dated action until its present status is separately checked.
Treasury describes subsidies; that does not establish operational orders
How to read the evidence labels →Sources for this file
Treasury Targets Serious Human Rights Abuse Aboard Distant Water Fishing Vessels ↗
Dalian, Pingtan, Li Zhenyu and Xinrong Zhuo sections
Source limits
Sanctions findings are not criminal convictions; current status requires separate checking.
CBP Issues Withhold Release Order on Chinese Fishing Fleet ↗
Dalian fleet WRO announcement
Source limits
Historical action verified; current WRO status not independently verified.
10 crew dead on Chinese tuna fleet supplying Japan ↗
Recruitment, worker accounts and Indonesian case outcomes
Source limits
Headline covers multiple vessels. Reported convictions concern either trafficking or unlawful recruitment; original judgments not obtained.
Current Specially Designated Nationals CSV: five selected entries ↗
IDs 33674, 33675, 33680, 33768, 33770
Source limits
Verifies only selected entries as of retrieval; not a current census of all linked vessels or sanctions exposure.
