Navy intercepts 19 stowaways ‘hiding inside rudder compartments’ of Europe-bound ships

The Nigerian Navy says it has intercepted 19 suspected stowaways on vessels bound for Europe.

Stowaways are individuals who secretly board a ship or aircraft to travel without permission or paying for their passage.

In a statement on Saturday, Hussaini Ibrahim, the NNS information officer, said 15 stowaways were first intercepted on December 19 onboard the European-bound vessel Moto Tanker (MT) KRITI RUBY, while the remaining four were intercepted on December 21 onboard MT MCC YANBU.

Ibrahim said preliminary investigation showed that the stowaways boarded the vessels at night and concealed themselves in the rudder compartment while attempting to illegally migrate to Europe.

“The Base, through its Quick Response Team (QRT) deployed at ATLAS COVE using the Nigerian Navy Maritime Domain Awareness Facility, Falcon Eye Alignment intercepted the suspected stowaways,” he said.

“This comes as a result of ongoing effort to sanitise the maritime environment of all forms of criminalities in support of the Presidential initiative to upscale the Blue Economy.”

Ibrahim credited the NNS BEECROFT personnel deployed for escort duties onboard the vessel for their credible intelligence in intercepting the additional four suspects.

For the first 15, the officer said Falcon Eye Alignment successfully vectored NNS BEECROFT QRT, which led to the interception of the stowaways at Lagos fairway buoy.

“The prompt response of the QRT saved the stowaways from exposure to life-threatening situations during the long voyage,” he said.

Ibrahim added that the first 15 stowaways have been handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Port, Apapa, on Friday.

He assurred that the remaining four will be handed over soon for further investigation and necessary action.

He added that the presence of stowaways on maritime operations poses security threats to vessels and facilitates smuggling, piracy, as well as drug and human trafficking, among other maritime threats.

The Nigerian Navy, on April 17, said its operatives apprehended 75 stowaways on Lagos waterways between August 2023 and April 2024.

On July 13, TheCable shared the story of how Nigerian stowaways risk perilous journeys at sea in their desperate search for a better life.