Four SL stowaways nabbed aboard container vessel sent back

By Norman Palihawadane

Four Lankan stowaways caught while travelling in a cargo ship conveying apparel exports to Europe from Sri Lanka had been handed over to the Sri Lankan authorities, police said.

The suspects sneaked into the MV CMA CGM PANAMA container ship while it was at Colombo Harbour last month. They were discovered by the captain of the ship at the Suez Canal security checkpoint in Egypt.

The stowaways were returned to Sri Lanka on another ship of the same shipping company.

They were handed over by the ship’s authorities to the officials of the Immigration Department at the Galle Port on Monday (10) evening.

The four youth aged 25, 31, 32 and 32, are residents of Jaffna and Mullaitivu.

Immigration Department officials handed over the youths to the Galle Port Police. They were later transferred to the CID yesterday (11). Action will be taken not only against them but also against the people who aided and abetted them, the police said.

The suspects divulged that they had sneaked into the container ship when it was at the Colombo Harbour on March 24. The ship left the port of Colombo on March 25 and commenced its journey to Europe.

When the ship was entering the Suez Canal in Egypt, it was discovered that there were four stowaways in the ship who were not known to the captain or the other staff of the ship.

The captain then informed his parent company about the discovery and according to their instructions , on March 28 these persons have been handed over to the MV Jackson Bay ship belonging to the same company sailing towards Sri Lanka.

They kept the four Sri Lankan youths in a special cell and brought them to the international waters near the Galle port under strict security.

After the officials of the Galle Port Immigration and Emigration Department, were informed, a team of officials of Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Port Authority approached the MV Jackson Bay traveling on the international waters and the four men were handed over to the custody of Sri Lankan authorities on Monday evening.