A boatload of Sri Lankans bound for Australia are stranded in a rickety fishing boat off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia.

Pictures have emerged of the boatload, which include 20 men, 15 women- one who is pregnant - and nine children after they were found by Indonesian fishermen on Saturday.

The boat drifted into Indonesian waters off the town of Lhoknga, off the coast of the province of Aceh in Northern Indonesia. 

Local authorities, who will not let the asylum seekers leave the boat because they lack proper paperwork, have told media the crew claimed the ship had suffered engine problems.

But engineers inspected the boat and believed it was OK to travel on to Christmas Island once choppy weather conditions subsided. 

Military commander Major Darul Amin was quoted saying that engine failures may not have been the real reason that the boat was found in Indonesian waters.

‘I think it was just a modus operandi.’

‘We will go back to their boat today (Sunday) at around 3pm and if they do need food or gasoline we will provide it. Then they have to leave our waters,’ Major Darul said.

‘Actually we wanted them to leave now but the wind is very big as well as the waves. So I think we have to wait until the weather is better than they will have to leave Lhoknga waters,’ police chief Zainudin added. 

The asylum seekers who are stuck in Lhoknga, near the province of Aceh, cannot leave the vessel because, according to military commander Major Darul Amin, they don’t have any passports or travel documents.

‘We are trying to negotiate with them to advise them to return to their country and not to continue to Australia,’ he said.

‘We are trying to reach their boat again today but so far we can’t because of high waves.’

Lhoknga police said the asylum seekers were well supplied and in good health.

‘They didn’t look like people who needed food. Their faces looked happy. They didn’t ask for food either,’ police chief Zainudin was quoted telling Fairfax Media.

Local fishermen discovered the modified fisherman’s boat, made of iron, which could carry around 100, at 11am on Saturday, after it drifted into their coast.

The boat was said to be experiencing engine problems and had to stop every few kilometres. 

International Organisation for Migration Jakarta spokesman Paul Dillon said the IOM had been advised on Saturday that a boat had arrived in Lhoknga with foreign nationals.

‘We indicated we were prepared to assist with the provision of services IOM normally provides and we are just waiting to hear back,’

The IOM has offices all around Indonesia and helps the Government to move refugees, as does the UN Refugee Agency.

As of January there were 13,679 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Indonesia, many of whom have been stuck in transit for years, according to the Jakarta Post.

UNHCR figures show that Australia resettled 808 refugees from Indonesia in 2013. This dropped to 526 in 2014 and 425 in 2015. -Agencies

Source: Daily Mail Australia