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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Three stowaways were recovered connected a ship’s rudder successful the Canary Islands aft an 11-day water voyage from Nigeria, Spain’s maritime rescue work said.
The men recovered connected the Alithini II lipid tanker astatine the Las Palmas larboard connected Monday day appeared to person symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia and were transferred to hospitals connected the land for aesculapian attention, according to Spain’s Maritime Safety and Rescue Society.
The survivors were each from Nigeria, the Spanish government’s delegation successful the Canary Islands told The Associated Press. One of them remained hospitalized Tuesday.
The maritime rescue agency, known successful Spain arsenic Salvamento Marítimo. shared a photograph of the 3 men sitting connected apical of the rudder nether the ship’s monolithic hull with their feet hanging lone a fewer centimeters (inches) from the water.
According to the MarineTraffic tracking website, the Malta-flagged vas near Lagos, Nigeria connected Nov. 17 and arrived successful Las Palmas connected Monday. The region betwixt the ports is astir 4,600 kilometers (2,800 miles).
Other radical were antecedently discovered clinging to rudders portion risking their lives to scope the Spanish islands located disconnected northwest Africa. Salvamento Maritimo has dealt with six akin cases successful the past 2 years, according to Sofía Hernández who heads the service’s coordination halfway successful Las Palmas.
Migrants whitethorn question screen wrong the box-like operation astir the rudder, Hernández explained, but are inactive susceptible to atrocious upwind and unsmooth seas. “It is precise dangerous,” she told the AP.
A ship’s fluctuating draught level - the vertical region betwixt the waterline and the bottommost of the hull- is different hazard for specified stowaways. The levels alteration depending connected the value of the cargo onboard.
“We are talking astir respective meters difference. This portion could person been perfectly submerged successful the water,” Hernández said.
In 2020 14-year-old Nigerian lad was interviewed by Spain’s El País paper aft surviving 2 weeks connected a ship’s rudder. He had besides departed from Lagos.
“It’s not the archetypal clip nor volition it beryllium the last,” tweeted Txema Santana, a writer and migration advisor to the determination authorities of the Canary Islands.
In cases similar these, the vessel proprietor is liable for bringing the stowaways backmost to their constituent of departure, according to the Spanish authorities delegation successful the islands.
Thousands of migrants and refugees from North and West Africa person reached the Canary Islands irregularly successful caller years. Most marque the unsafe Atlantic crossing connected crowded boats aft departing from the seashore of Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania and adjacent Senegal.
More than 11,600 radical person reached the Spanish islands by vessel truthful acold this year, according to figures released by Spain’s Interior Ministry.
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Follow AP’s sum of planetary migration astatine https://apnews.com/hub/migration
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