Did you know that there are people who travel across the ocean on ships without paying for the traveling costs? No, it is not because they satisfied some special requirements for free traveling or that they won a voucher for a free trip. These people are traveling illegally while endangering their lives and creating a financial burden for the ship owner.
These people are what we call 'stowaways'. They gain access to a ship discreetly without being detected by port security and at times, by the crew of the ship concerned and they hide for the duration of the trip. While ships are an excellent mode of transportation for large cargo, they are not necessarily the most in-demand method of transport for cross-border traveling for individuals, therefore, why would one choose to illegally get on board a vessel and expose themselves to health-related dangers? It is reported that normally stowaways engage in this dangerous act in an attempt to escape from one country to another in hopes of a better life and that they specifically choose ships because it is fairly easy to get on board a ship compared to a flight without being detected. The security at the port is not as tight as it is at airports, this makes gaining entry at ports a lot easier.
It is not always that stowaways illegally board a vessel in hopes for a better life, others are stupidly engaged in these activities to brag and also to rob the crew mid-voyage. However, despite the reason for engaging in these activities, stowaways present a serious problem in the shipping industry, and a more permanent solution to deal effectively with it should be adopted. If you are a regular reader of my Maritime Monday articles, you know by now that I always state that the maritime/shipping industry is heavily regulated by international conventions and this is because I don't want to make my readers aware of the issues within the industry without mentioning legal measures put in place to address them.
The Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, 1965, as amended ("FIMT") is an international convention which, amongst others, specifies what ship owners and local authorities should consider when dealing with stowaways; it defines a stowaway as 'a person who is secreted on a ship, or in cargo which is subsequently loaded on the ship, without the consent of the shipowner or the master or any other responsible person and who is detected onboard the ship after it has departed from a port, or in the cargo while unloading it in the port of arrival, and is reported as a stowaway by the master to the appropriate authorities.'
There are many ways in which stowaways can board the vessel and these include bribing crew members to get on board; pretending to be stevedores or workers and wearing similar clothes as workers such as hard hats and reflective clothes; accessing the ship through mooring lines etcetera. Normally, they attempt to board the vessel in the morning or late at night, this is because it is rather difficult to spot someone during those times. It is not always that they disguise themselves as workers or stevedores, at most times they just simply wear dark clothes which makes it a whole lot more difficult to identify them.
The issue of stowaways is particularly important and as stated above, presents many issues in the shipping industry. For example, you would expect that in the event someone boards your ship illegally that they should be punished for illegal entry to both your ship and the country at which they do not have citizenship, however, that is not how things operate in this industry.
Although the FIMT specifies that national legislation should dictate how stowaways are to be dealt with, it is common practice with many countries that should the stowaway be discovered at the port of arrival, the shipowner will be liable for the repatriation costs of the stowaway to their respective country. However, when stowaways are discovered at the port of departure, right before the ship leaves the port, stowaways will be accused of unlawful entry onto the ship and local authorities will be involved; this might even result in stowaways being arrested.
Repatriation costs are not the only costs that the ship owner will incur as a result of stowaways being on their ship, local authorities also impose a penalty fee on the ship which was found with stowaways on board. However, the cost of the penalty will be mitigated by several considerations such as whether the master/captain of the ship declared the existence of a stowaway to the authorities at the port of arrival, and whether the master/captain took sufficient measures to prevent stowaways from getting on board the ship.
Ship owners and crew members are encouraged to deploy private security to patrol the quayside and that every visitor should be in possession of an International Ship Port Facility Security ("ISPS") clearance or a port permit and that anyone who does not have them should not be allowed on the ship. While these solutions might be helpful, I wonder how effective they will be especially considering that some of these stowaways manage to get access by bribing the very same crew members who are encouraged to enforce security measures.
In conclusion, this begs the question, is the industry working backward and whether stowaways are the problem or lack of security enforcement and integrity is? What can be done to ensure that crew members are loyal to their employers, is this a practice that can be effectively regulated, if yes, how? This does not go to suggest that all crew members are contributing to this problem by taking bribes, one article accessible on this link https://www.marineinsight.com/life-at-sea/stowaway-a-menace-to-the-shipping-industry/ suggests that stowaways arrange 'with the workers and the lower rungs of a vessel crew which makes it easy for him to board the vessel without anyone's knowledge'; unfortunately, I am unable to verify the truth and reliability of this statement.
Notwithstanding the above, it is imperative that the industry considers more effective security measures within the ports and that the verification of workers and stevedores is not simply the work of crew members and ship agents but that the port authorities are heavily involved with that process as well.
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