Stowaways caught at Freeport - January 13, 2006

The immigration police and Freeport authorities were yesterday evening trying to determine the fate of five Algerian stowaways after the captain of a container ship they were probably on refused to take them back on board.

Freeport sources said the stowaways arrived in an empty container on board the vessel North Sun on Tuesday night. They are all men aged between 18 and 48 and are not carrying any documents.

The sources said that as containers started being offloaded from the ship onto the terminal and stacked on top of each other at around 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday, security personnel noted that the door of one of the containers was open and some men started jumping out onto the ground.

The container was positioned on top of another two.

The sources said in all, five men emerged from the container. Three were rounded up immediately by Freeport security personnel and the other two were apprehended after a brief chase within the terminal.

The sources added that inside the container, security personnel later found a steel cutter, a sledge hammer, chisels and torches as well as food and drink.

The sources said that normally stowaways are taken into custody and handed over to the captain of the ship which had ferried them to Malta while the immigration police are informed about the case. But, in the case of the North Sun, the captain, Bolkhovskyi Volodymyr, was refusing to take them on board.

Although involved in the case, the immigration police had refrained from taking the stowaways into custody, the sources added.

In the meantime they were being kept in a corridor of the new Freeport Gate under the surveillance of Freeport security and the police.

The sources said the captain argued that the stowaways were caught on land and demanded proof that they had arrived on his ship.

The ship, which had left from Algeria, was not allowed to leave the Freeport by Maltese authorities, the sources said.

Forensic experts and the police went to the Freeport security gate yesterday evening to take the stowaways' fingerprints.

The sources said the Freeport provided the men with food and blankets. On Wednesday night they slept on the floor.

In a statement issued last night, the police said the stowaways had admitted they had boarded the ship inside the container in Algeria. In their statement, the police said it seemed the men had been assisted in stowing away by third parties who are familiar with the port in Algiers.

Together with other authorities and the local agent, the police are negotiating with the ship's captain to take the Algerians back on board. In the meantime, the men are being accommodated by the police.

The ship is the same one which last October was placed under quarantine at the Freeport after stevedores noticed dead birds on deck. Subsequent tests to determine whether the birds were infected with avian flu had proved negative.