By DANIEL JACKSON
Three West African stowaways claimed refugee status after jumping from a log ship in Whangarei yesterday.
The men were found cold and wet hiding among logs by police dogs at the port about 4 am.
They had apparently jumped 10m from the log ship Sea Luck's main deck into the harbour and swum ashore after escaping custody in the ship's hospital.
Senior Sergeant Mike Henehan, of Whangarei, said the men, aged in their 30s, were held in custody before being turned over to the Immigration Service.
Service spokesman Ian Smith said naming the men would put them at risk.
He said they had claimed refugee status and, after being interviewed in Auckland, had been issued work permits until their cases could be heard.
They would probably be interviewed again within the next couple of months.
Mr Smith would not say where the men would live or if they had any way of supporting themselves.
"They've got work permits because they want to work."
Sea Luck chief officer Reynaldo Badar said the stowaways had been on board the 26,000-tonne Maltese registered vessel since it left the South African port of Owendo carrying logs about three months ago.
They had been found hiding among the logs after two days at sea and told the crew they were escaping persecution in Sierra Leone. They could speak English.
"According to them they left because of the situation in their country, where there is a civil war," he said.
"They say they were being beaten by police and that is why they decided to leave."
The small country has been involved in a vicious civil war in recent years and a United Nations peacekeeping force is at present in the country.
Only one of the men had any form of identification on him when found by the crew and it was hard to know if the papers were false as they were water damaged, said Mr Badar.
The stowaways had mistakenly believed the Sea Luck was on its way to Canada. They had been horrified to learn they were actually on their way to Asia.
Since then the ship had visited Singapore, Hong Kong, spent a month in dry dock in China and then gone to Taiwan before coming to New Zealand.
At each port the stowaways were locked up but while at sea had been allowed to roam the ship.Mr Badar did not know how the men managed to escape. A watchman had discovered them missing after finding the door to the ship's hospital unlocked.
The ship's 26 crew had been shaken from their sleep to search and it was discovered two life-rings were missing.
Trio found in log pile after jumping ship
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.