Press Release Modern Express no.3
Track records suggest that stowaways wishing to immigrate and access to northern European ports try to board in West African ports, with or without the complicity of port agents and crew.
The French ports that are mostly targeted with such often tragic attempts are Marseille, Sète, la Rochelle, Nantes-Saint Nazaire, le Havre and Rouen.
Owendo timber port in Gabon – the departure port of the Modern Express – is known to be a gathering place for immigrants coming from a number of West African countries and trying to get to Europe.
In 2003, nine stowaways who had embarked in Owendo were discovered aboard a cargo ship prior arriving at La Rochelle timber port. In 2004, the body of a stowaway was found in Sète, crushed by logs in the cargo ship holds. Every year the border police at Marseille arrest at least 50 stowaways, mostly coming from West Africa.
The implementation of the ISPS code (International Ship and Port Security Code) leads to install fences and require the wearing of access badges within port facilities. Even if port managements gladly state that stowaway transiting is thus declining, then one can reasonably suppose that illegal immigration channels managed to develop bypass strategies in each port.
Given the last known call of the Modern Express in Africa and her intended destinations (Le Havre and Antwerp), Robin des Bois asks the relevant authorities to urgently search the vessel to ensure that there are no stowaways on board, and otherwise to rescue them while there is still time.
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