The notorious Indonesian people-smuggler behind the failed attempt to bring 254 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers into Australia last year is facing trial for breaching sailing laws.

Abraham Louhenapessy, better known as Captain Bram, faces a maximum two years in prison for hiring crew members who did not have proper documents to man his boat, the Jaya Lestari 5.

The boat sailed from the Indonesian island of Batam bound for Christmas Island in late September, but the Indonesian navy stopped it early the following month with Bram still on board.

At the time, the boat was waiting to transfer him to another vessel so he did not have to enter Australian waters.

Prosecutors were unable to charge him with more serious offences, partly because people-smuggling is not yet a crime in Indonesia. As a result, Bram looks set to escape the Serang District Court trial with a modest fine. In Australia, he would face people-smuggling charges and up to 20 years in prison.

Bram refused to speak to the media after yesterday's trial proceedings, which heard from two of the crew members he hired in Batam. "He knew the documents were not complete but he hired us anyway," one of the crew members, Mansyur Mamero, said.

The trial, before a panel of three judges, will resume next week, with a verdict expected early next month.

Bram is believed to have brought more than 1500 asylum-seekers into Australia in the past decade. He was arrested in 2007 and served 20 months in prison for immigration offences but was released last year. He was found aboard the Jaya Lestari just months later.

Meanwhile, more than 240 of the Sri Lankans are still aboard his overcrowded boat moored in the Javanese port of Merak, and refusing to go ashore. They fear they will have to wait years for resettlement if they are processed in Indonesia.