We could’ve started this report in a number of ways, ranging from the very Seinfeldian, “What is with the cost of traveling these days?” to the matter-of-fact, “Y’know, people love to travel long distances by personal watercraft.” But given two major (and very real) First World problems, that being illegal immigration and the threat of Ebola being supplanted into the general populous, the discovery of three stowaways found hiding in the back of a lorry (that’s Queen’s English for “truck” for your neophytes) at a Hampshire depot in Fareham.
Found as the container was being unloaded, three men – aged 33 and a 22-year-old – immediately detained by yard workers before the police could arrive. All three are reported to be in good health and are believed to be Albanian nationals, according to a report by The Southern Daily Echo. Upon questioning, the trio were reported to have climbed into the container midway through the ferry crossing to Portsmouth Harbour from Spain.
According to the account, “The 44-f00t curtained lorry trailer arrived in Portsmouth Harbour on the Brittany Ferries service from Bilbao. The jet skis were being transported from Ibiza where they were being used by riders at the Jetbou Ibiza water sports festival. The watercraft arrived in Bilbao following a 400-mile overland trip from Valencia where they had traveled from the island by another boat.”
Of course, the discovery comes just days after UK Border Force and ports officials were “tightening up controls on vessels sailing from West Africa amid the Ebola crisis.” A spokeswoman for Portsmouth Harbour refused to provide a statement to The Southern Daily Echo, saying that the UK Border Force is responsible for checking vehicles entering the port. Meanwhile, an unnamed UK Border Force spokesman said, “We work closely with the police to tackle illegal immigration and continue to strengthen the security of our border to stop those who have no right to enter the UK.”
