Canary Island authorities rescued four stowaways at the weekend who survived a six-day journey from the Ivory Coast sitting on top of the rudder of an MSC containership.
The men were rescued near Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Saturday night and appeared to be in stable health, according to a local police report.
Salvamento Maritimo and the police reported that the stowaways had been detained after they arrived on the container vessel, MSC Fiammetta, (73,355 dwt) and were spotted by dockworkers late on Saturday afternoon.
Salvatore Maritimo dispatched a patrol boat and rescued the men who were taken ashore for processing.
According to local media reports, the men were identified as Nigerian citizens who had managed to climb on to the vessel undetected in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The 5,770 TEU vessel was at sea for six days on an approximately 2 000 nautical mile voyage with the stowaways on the rudder.
Local authorities said the men appeared to be in good health despite the perilous conditions of their journey.
In most cases, under Spanish law, stowaways are placed back on the vessel and the owners are responsible for reparations arising from the incident.
However, in some cases, asylum has been granted on humanitarian grounds, such as in that of three Nigerian stowaways who arrived in November 2023 on the chemical products tanker Alithini II. An earlier case of rudder stowaways occurred in July 2023 when two Nigerians, aged 18 and 22, were discovered on MSC Marta.
MSC Fiammetta’s automated identification signal indicated that she continued her journey from the Canary Islands late on Monday, headed to Fos-sur-Mer. France.
