Two stowaways sneaked on board a cargo ship in West Africa. After ten days without food, they were found in the pump room.
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The police have taken care of two people on board a cargo ship that came from Africa.
– It turns out that they had got on board at night, so the ship had traveled from West Africa towards Norway, says operations manager Knut Dahl-Michelsen in the West police district to VG.
When they called at Tyssedal in Hardanger on Sunday, the Norwegian police took over.
Tyssedal is a settlement in Ullensvang municipality, and had 601 inhabitants in 2021.
Ten days in the pump room without food
A full ten days had passed before they had been discovered by the crew of the boat.
– They hid downstairs in the pump room. They had no food, only access to water, so they were in relatively poor condition when they were found. They were looked after by the captain and crew, says Dahl-Michelsen.
The ship was transporting sand from the Sahara, which was to be used for the production of iron and ore in Norway, says the operations manager.
Communications manager Jorulf Kyrkjeeide at the industrial company TiZir Titanium & Iron in Tyssedal says they have received deliveries from Senegal for a number of years. He says the company was expecting a ship today.
Kyrkjeeide himself was not present when the boat with the “blind passengers” docked.
– We are very surprised that there was someone on the ship. Since 2015, we have had approximately one ship call a month, and we have never experienced anything like this before, says Kyrkjeeide.
The persons were met by Norwegian police at the station in Tyssedal. They are on their way to being taken over by the police’s Investigation Unit.
– They are sent to Oslo to apply for asylum, says operations manager Dahl-Michelsen.
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