A photo shared Tuesday, 29/11, shows three survivors of an 11-day voyage from Nigeria to Spain sitting on the rudder of a large oil tanker.
The footage was released by the Spanish government agency Salvamento Maritimo, which rescued the three men after they arrived at the port of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria.
The rescue took place after three migrants of African descent were seen at the bottom of the ship, according to government agencies and the EFE agency.
They were traveling on the Maltese-flagged oil tanker Alithini II, which left the Nigerian port of Lagos on 17 November, according to the rescue agency.
Their location is an area outside the hull of the ship, the so-called rudder blade, in the open and vulnerable to the violence of the sea.
It was learned that the general health of the immigrants, who were transferred to the health centers on the island, was good despite their travel and thirst.
“They left Nigeria more than a week ago, spending time at the helm of the ship, very close to the water. The odyssey of survival is far beyond fiction. This is not the first and will not be the last. Stowaway Spanish journalist Txema Santana, specializing in immigration issues, Twitter “It doesn’t always share the same fate,” he wrote.
Officials said this is not the first time migrants have been detected at the helm of a ship. In November 2020, three more people were found on the rudder blade of the Ocean Princess II.
Image: Getty Images
One of them, a 14-year-old boy, told the newspaper El País how he survived the trip by drinking salt water and took turns sleeping in a hole above the helm with other men he was traveling with.
“We were so weak. I never thought it could be this hard,” he said.
In another incident that same year, four people were found at the helm of the Norwegian oil tanker Champion Pula after traveling from Lagos to Las Palmas.
Reports at the time said the men were hiding in a compartment behind the helm for 10 days at sea.
The number of migrants crossing by boat from West Africa to the Canary Islands has increased significantly in recent years.
The journeys are long, dangerous and deadly. In 2021, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded 1,532 deaths on the route.
– This text was published at http://bbc.co.uk/portuguese/internacional-63801754.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.