Stowaways Travel 2,000 Miles On Oil Tanker’s Rudder From Nigeria To the Canary Islands

There will be stowaways on certain voyages although not all will be as lucky as these three individuals who reportedly survived an 11-day trip from Nigeria to the Canary Islands.

The Spanish coast guard posted a photo showing three men sitting atop the rudder of the Maltese-flagged Alithini II as it arrived in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, on Monday, Nov. 28.

From the photo, the three stowaways could be seen dangling just inches above the water behind the massive oil tanker.

It was added that the ship left Lagos, Nigeria on Nov. 17, meaning the stowaways survived the 11-day journey to the Spanish territory off northwest Africa, according to the tracking website Marine Traffic.

The three individuals were treated for dehydration and hypothermia after the dangerous trip.

Miraculous and dangerous as it may have been, a migration adviser cautions that this will not be the last time there will be stowaways who would be as lucky.

“It is not the first and it will not be the last. Stowaways do not always have the same luck,” Txema Santana, a migration adviser to the local government, tweeted.

Before this, there was a 14-year-old boy who lasted 15 days traveling on a ship’s rudder from Lagos.

In an interview with BBC, the boy reportedly survived on salt water and by taking turns sleeping in a hole above the rudder with the other people he was traveling with.

“We were very weak. I never imagined it could be this hard,” the teen said to Spain’s El Pais.

In that same year, there were also four men found on the rudder of the Norwegian tanker Champion Pula. They also traveled from Nigeria to Las Palmas and allegedly hid in a room behind the rudder that lasted 10 days at sea.

There have been reportedly thousands of African migrants and refugees who were able to reach the Canary Islands by embarking on dangerous voyages on crowded boats.

So far this year in a report from the Post, more than 11,600 people have reached the Spanish islands by boat, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.