Eleven Days and 3,000 Miles on a Ship's Rudder (!!)

I'm not a regular reader of the Washington Post and as I recall some WP articles throw up a paywall, but the photo in this article is so startling to me I think this is one of the best links for this story. Three -- can we call them stowaways if they're outside the hull? -- rode the rudder of a tanker for 3,000 miles and 11 days from Nigeria to the Canary Islands, until they were picked up by the Spanish coast guard. Wow. Now there's a story for a book publisher. Amazing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/29/spain-migrants-ship-rudder/

I cropped the picture and attached for convenience.

Guessing they checked Windy for suitable passage weather? Following seas would have been a problem.....

Peter

Wow, image the desperation to do that.

Lucky for them they're in tropical, probably calm waters. Otherwise no one would know.

Gotta wonder if they started out with more than 3 people.......

mvweebles said:

Gotta wonder if they started out with more than 3 people.......

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Or how many other times it's been attempted.

Pretty common way of smuggling drugs in the past. We caught a couple who had ridden all the way from Columbia to Mississippi that way, around 2007 with several kilos of cocaine with them. I was shocked to find how much room there was in the rudder compartment (the space above where you see them sitting) But, yeah, a big following sea would have made it interesting for sure.

mvweebles said:

Gotta wonder if they started out with more than 3 people.......

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Also wonder if this is the reason orcas are attacking rudders off the coast of Spain.

It looks to me like the ship is empty and riding high. What would have happened if they needed to take on ballast?

pete

twistedtree said:

Wow, image the desperation to do that.

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A good reminder of our first world problems that we sweat and whether we need 1 or 2 engines, anchor type, spin on or drop in fuel filters....

Fletcher500 said:

A good reminder of our first world problems that we sweat and whether we need 1 or 2 engines, anchor type, spin on or drop in fuel filters....

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Absolutely. Incredible story and a great perspective for many.

AlaskaProf said:

Or how many other times it's been attempted.

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Apparently it is pretty common there. Saw a video that said the Spanish immigration has seen it multiple times. I can’t imagine 2700NM on top of the rudder. But they said there is a small room or locker that is accessible from where they were so they may have spent time in there. I would not want to be there if it was rough water, actually I would not want to be there at any time.

Pete Meisinger said:

It looks to me like the ship is empty and riding high. What would have happened if they needed to take on ballast?

pete

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They climb up into the open space, but they would have to swim out. In fact, that’s where they hide. Even when the ship is in ballast.

Here’s another one:
https://www.gard.no/web/updates/con...of-stowaways-hiding-in-a-vessels-rudder-trunk.

Here’s images of the rudder trunk.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rud...sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=cmtMerd5KVChOM

Better option than the nose wheel recess on an aircraft?

Boy, for all our discussions about recovering men overboard and how difficult it is to climb aboard a pleasureboat - when I look at those photos, how do they ever climb those sheer vertical rudder surfaces to reach the top edge?

I guess when you are desperate you can do almost anything. Tough to do all this and then get sent home…

BruceK said:

Better option than the nose wheel recess on an aircraft?

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"As the CHAMPION PULA case illustrates, the rudder trunk is not an uncommon access point for stowaways and is often used as a hideout, especially when a ship is in ballast condition."

Comodave said:

I guess when you are desperate you can do almost anything. Tough to do all this and then get sent home…

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Interesting outcomes. Apparently, in the Champion Pula case, linked above, the Spaniards refused entry and they were conveyed to the next port-of-call in Norway where they applied for asylum.

soin2la said:

Here’s another one:
https://www.gard.no/web/updates/con...of-stowaways-hiding-in-a-vessels-rudder-trunk.

Here’s images of the rudder trunk.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rud...sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=cmtMerd5KVChOM

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"Rudder Trunk".
Thanks, I couldn't think of the real word for that compartment. But, I did end up climbing up into the one in our case (and, it wasn't that easy, I did it from a Coast Guard boat pulled up under it). It looked like a miserable place to ride out an ocean voyage, but there was more room than I would have ever dreamed looking at if from outside. Our ship was a small oil tanker running back and forth from Columbia to a refinery here.

Hey Joe ... Does this rudder feel sticky to you?

Yeah, had that a few months ago myself, Bob. Just crank it over hard real quick and bring it back ... that usually takes care of it.

While it doesn't lessen the degree of risk, there is actually a small cavity above the rudders of ships like this, into which stowaways crawl. You can see the entry in the photo. That's been the location where stow always have hidden in the past, and how they have avoided being seen by tugs when the vessel was leaving port.

Does it make sense to anyone that you could survive an 11 day open sea voyage on top of a rudder? The cavity journey is detailed in this story https://english.elpais.com/society/...-on-top-of-a-tankers-rudder.html&ssm=TW_CM_EN