Migrants travel to Canary Islands balanced on ship’s RUDDER

Three migrants who traveled from Nigeria to the Canary Islands by hiding on the helm of a ship have been rescued by the Spanish coastguard after what is believed to be an astonishing 11-day journey.

The three stowaways sat precariously on the helm of the oil and chemical tanker Althini II, barely a few feet above the waterline, having miraculously survived the non-stop journey on the seas of the North Atlantic.

The Althini II arrived in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on Monday morning after its long journey from Lagos in Nigeria, with GPS data corroborated by multiple ship tracking websites confirming that it did not stop en route.

The migrants suffered from dehydration and hypothermia when brought into port by the Coast Guard, but had somehow managed to survive curled up on a few square feet of unforgiving metal for nearly two weeks, completely exposed to the elements. elements.

Three migrants managed to survive 11 days on the helm of a chemical tanker sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to the Canary Islands. They were only a few feet from the waterline and exposed to the elements

There was not enough room for the migrants to sit up or lie down to sleep

“This afternoon the Salvamar Nunki (a Coast Guard boat) rescued three stowaways who were on the rudder blade of the ship Althini II, anchored in the docks of the port of Las Palmas and coming from Nigeria,” the Salvamento Maritimo wrote on Twitter yesterday.

“They have been transferred to the port and treated by health services.”

A spokesman for the Canary Islands local government told Spanish outlet EFE that the migrants were met by medics on the quay but were quickly taken to hospital.

Two of the stowaways were taken to Doctor Negrín Hospital, while their companion was sent to Insular University Hospital on Las Palmas Island.

It is not clear how the migrants managed to survive the journey, as they apparently traveled without supplies and difficult conditions in which there was barely enough room to sleep, let alone sit up.

But it is not the first time that stowaways have been found traveling to the Canary Islands on the helm of commercial ships.

“This afternoon the Salvamar Nunki (a Coast Guard boat) rescued three stowaways on the rudder blade of the ship Althini II, anchored in the docks of the port of Las Palmas and coming from Nigeria,” the Salvamento Maritimo wrote on Twitter yesterday.

Last year, a 14-year-old Nigerian boy was interviewed by the Spanish newspaper El Pais after surviving for two weeks at the helm of a ship arriving from Lagos.

In November 2020, three other people were found balanced on the helm of the Ocean Princess II, a cargo ship flying the St. Vincent Grenadines flag, and three more arrived in the Canary Islands a month earlier aboard the Champion Pula, a Norwegian oil tanker. .

The Spanish-owned Canary Islands are a popular gateway for African migrants trying to reach Europe.

Spanish data shows that maritime migration to the archipelago increased by 51 percent in the first five months of the year compared to a year earlier.