Migrants at the helm of an oil tanker for 11 days in the ocean

The three migrants, who were found on board the tanker in the port of Las Palmas, showed symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia and were taken to hospitals on the island to receive medical assistance. But after a voyage of several days hidden at the helm of the merchant ship, they will have to leave the island, as soon as they are out of the doctors: this was reported by the delegation of the Spanish government to the Canary Islands.

According to the Spanish news agency iveLegally, the three survivors are not considered immigrants like those who arrive on boats, but “secret passengers” on a ship; For this reason, after receiving aid from a “moderate drought”, the whole party would have to return “to the port of origin”, which should be Lagos, Nigeria, without the possibility of remaining in Spanish territory and at the expense of the corresponding ship’s agent.

According to the information available, it took 11 days for the ship in which they hid, the freighter Alithini II, to cross. “The danger is maximum, and the space they have traveled in is not suitable for the presence of a person,” explained Sofia Hernandez, head of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Las Palmas. “Dry, wave, hypothermia… dangers abound.”

Little information has been leaked about the three heroes of the perilous journey: according to the Spanish government delegation, they are adults of Nigerian nationality. Location marine traffic rebuilt it The Maltese-flagged ship departed Lagos, Nigeria on 17 November and arrived in Las Palmas on 28 November.

Ex – This is not the first time that stowaways have been found on the rudders. Agency Evie He mentions that in at least two other cases, in the past, migrants managed to reach the Canary Islands through this dangerous means of travel. In 2021, the Spanish newspaper interviewed a 14-year-old Nigerian boy El Pais After surviving command of a ship for two weeks. He too has departed from Lagos.