This remarkable footage shows an illegal immigrant sitting on the rudder of a ship after he and three other stowaways crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
Four Migrants Found In Ship's Rudder Enclosure After Atlantic Crossing pic.twitter.com/GT3Zk2UrNn
— NewsX (@newsx_media) July 12, 2023
The four men were found stowed away in the Liberia-flagged ship off the coast of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo on 10th July.
The men were located by the crew of the vessel, which departed from Lagos, Nigeria, on 27th June.
The coastal cities of Vitoria (capital of Espirito Santo) and Lagos lie nearly 3,500 miles apart as the crow flies.
The Federal Police were called and confirmed that the men were hiding in the ship’s rudder enclosure.
They were rescued by the force’s maritime unit. Due to their poor health, they were conditionally allowed to disembark.
The rescued men say they are from Nigeria but have no documents to confirm their identities.
They will remain in custody under the responsibility of the Maritime Agency until they are returned to their country of origin.
The Federal Police of Brazil said in a statement obtained by CEN on 10th July: “On Monday morning (10/7), the Federal Police were called to board a ship flying the flag of Liberia, where undocumented individuals were reportedly located by the crew of the vessel, which departed from Lagos, Nigeria, on 27/06/2023.
“The Federal Police officers went to the scene and confirmed the presence of four undocumented individuals hiding in the ship’s rudder enclosure, and they were all rescued by the maritime unit of the Federal Police due to their precarious health conditions. Conditional disembarkation was authorised for humanitarian reasons.
“Now, the foreigners will remain in custody and under the responsibility of the Maritime Agency until they are compulsorily returned to their country of origin.
“The rescued individuals claim to be Nigerian nationals, but they do not have documents to confirm their origin and identities.”
