The three stowaways who arrived in Spain after traveling for 11 days on the rudder blade of an oil tanker will be returned to Nigeria

Three adult males of sub-Saharan origin have survived an eleven-day voyage at the helm of an oil tanker that sailed non-stop between the African port of Lagos and the Spanish city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands (Atlantic ).

However, these people do not have legal consideration of migrantsbut of stowaways; they will be returned to the ship so that the crew can take care of them, without allowing them to go ashore, until they call again in the country of departure, Nigeriaaccording to a Spanish government source.

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The three men, who were hospitalized with moderate dehydrationwere rescued this Monday after being sighted in that dangerous place on the ship, with barely half a meter between their feet and the water, as can be seen in a photograph provided to EFE by the Spanish security service. Maritime Rescue.

The emergency medical assistance gave them first attention at the sports dock, as soon as they disembarked, but They were immediately transferred to two hospitals, given their situation, an Emergencies spokeswoman informed EFE.

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Two are already on board the tanker and the third will be delivered as soon as he is discharged from hospital.

The three traveled clandestinely in the ship Alithini IIflying the Maltese flag, which left Lagos on the 17th, according to the data on its route collected by the maritime tracking portals Vesselfinder.com and Marinetraffic.com, although Maritime Salvage cannot ensure where they embarked.

The place where they were found is the small space left free under the stern where the rudder fits into the hull, a hole that can be flooded just by the ship pitching in the waves, which means a “maximum risk” of dyingSofía Hernández, the head of the Las Palmas Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, who led the rescue, told EFE.

It is a relatively frequent practice; In the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria alone, there were six precedents in recent years: one in 2018, with four rescued, and four in 2020, with 15 people helped, including a minor.

In at least two of the cases, there is evidence that the vessels came from Nigeria.

Between January 1 and November 15 of this year, 14,875 people arrived irregularly by sea to the Spanish Canary Islands, in precarious boats from the African continent, although it was 17.6% less than in the same period. 2021, according to the latest data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

Together they entered Spain 28,926 immigrants, with a decrease of 19.5% percent; the vast majority (26,839) did so by sailing from the African continent, 21.7 percent less than in 2021.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.