Stowaways usually try to get on board by climbing from mooring ropes, anchor chains, ladders, pretending as stevedores or hiding inside loading cargos. Once they are spotted onboard, the consequences, which can be severe, may include detention and delays, huge costs for repatriating stowaways and criminal charges on masters and owners once stowaways are injured, ill or killed on board ships. In the context of coronavirus, things can be complicated with limited flights available now and nucleic acid tests to be arranged for stowaways. This article, referring to previous circulars and latest information, will discuss some common features of stowaway cases, the risks covered, the way of handling such cases and relative clauses in charter parties.

I.    Data and facts

Based on the dozens of stowaway cases handled by the Club in the last 10 years, a map of stowaway hot spots is sketched, indicating that such incidents take place mostly in Africa and the Middle East. Ports frequently see stowaway cases include Durban (7), Cape Town (3), Richard (2) of South Africa, Lagos (5) of Nigeria, Conakry (3) of Guinea and Dakar (3) of Senegal.

From the perspective of vessel types, bulk carriers are most frequently boarded by stowaways with a total of 40 cases reported so far. 11 were found on container ships, 10 on general cargo ships, 1 on reefer vessel and 0 on oil and chemical tankers. This is probably because bulk carriers call at African and Middle Eastern ports more often than other types of ships and bulk carriers generally have a low freeboard, easy for stowaways to access and hide.

According to the stowaway reports at global ports by IMO (website: https://gisis.imo.org/Public/FAL/Stowaways/Default.aspx, inquired on 17 November 2020), the statistics of stowaway incidents in the last three years (2018-2020) revealed a new trend that among all countries with more than four stowaway incidents, Guinea, Greece, Morocco and Tunis have seen more cases than countries where stowaways persistently represent a serious problem like South Africa and Nigeria. Ships calling at these ports are advised to exercise caution.

II.    Management of stowaway incidents

In the Revised Guidelines on the Prevention of Access by Stowaways and the Allocation of Responsibilities to Seek the Successful Resolution of Stowaway Cases adopted by IMO in June 2018 through Resolution FAL.13(42), responsibilities of masters, owners and managing companies are clarified.

The master of the ship which finds any stowaways on board should:

1.      make every effort to determine immediately the port of embarkation of the stowaway;

2.      take practical steps to establish the identity, including the nationality/citizenship and the right of residence, of the stowaway;

3.      prepare a statement for presentation to the appropriate authorities (for example, the public authorities at the port of embarkation, the flag State and, if necessary, subsequent ports of call) and the shipowner;

4.      notify the existence of a stowaway and any relevant details to the shipowner and appropriate authorities at the port of embarkation, the next port of call and the flag State;

5.      not depart from the planned voyage to seek the disembarkation of a stowaway discovered on board the ship after it has left the territorial waters of the State where the stowaways embarked, unless permission to disembark the stowaway has been granted by the public authorities of the State to whose port the ship deviates, or repatriation has been arranged elsewhere with sufficient documentation and permission given for disembarkation, or unless there are extenuating safety, security, health or compassionate reasons, or attempts to disembark in other ports on the planned voyage have failed and deviation is necessary in order to avoid that the stowaway remain on board for a significant period of time;

6.      ensure that the stowaway is presented to the appropriate authorities at the next port of call in accordance with their requirements;

7.      take appropriate measures to ensure the security, general health, welfare and safety of the stowaway until disembarkation, including providing him or her with adequate provisioning, accommodation, proper medical attention and sanitary facilities.

The owner and the company should:

1.      ensure that the existence of, and any relevant information on, the stowaway has been notified to the appropriate authorities at the port of embarkation, the next port of call and the flag State;

2.      comply with any removal directions made by the competent national authorities at the port of disembarkation.

III.    Repatriating stowaways

Once stowaways are found at sea, humanitarian relief are to be offered. Upon confirming the identity of the stowaways and whether there are weapon or drugs hidden, the crew are supposed to take the stowaways to a secure area with adequate food and water. Then an investigation should be carried out on the name, date of birth, nationality, address, parents’ information, method of boarding, place of hiding and intended destination.

Owners may report the stowaways’ information and the voyage plan to the Club, who will contact correspondents for ports that allow disembarkation. Meanwhile, the Club will approach the relevant country’s embassy or consulate to verify the nationality of the stowaway and apply for temporary travel documents. The local correspondent will then reach out to the immigration authority for permission on repatriating the stowaways and subsequent matters on security, medical care, as well as fees for clothing and transportation. After all, whether stowaways can be repatriated depends on the context.

Owners should be aware that the master and crew members are not advised to deal with the stowaways without reporting to the company and the Club first. Any inappropriate measures taken would probably put the owner at disadvantage – administrative penalties and even criminal charges may be levied.

IV.    P&I cover

Club rules that may apply in stowaway cases include Section 9 Diversion expenses, 10 Stowaways and refugees and 20 Fines of Rule No.3.

The expenses recoverable by the Club are generally costs incurred by Members in discharging their obligations towards stowaways – fuel, meals, security, repatriation expenses including flights and accommodation, costs charged by the embassy/consulate and those incurred by local agents and lawyers. Other compensation includes port state penalties for having stowaways on board and necessary diversion expenses for returning the stowaways.

V.    BIMCO stowaways clause

BIMCO stowaways clause for time charter parties 2009:

(a) If stowaways have gained access to the Vessel by means of secreting away in the goods and/or containers or by any other means related to the cargo operation, this shall amount to breach of charter. The Charterers shall be liable for the consequences of such breach and hold the Owners harmless and keep them indemnified against all claims; costs (including but not limited to victualling costs for stowaways whilst on board and repatriation); losses; and fines or penalties, which may arise and be made against them. The Charterers shall, if required, place the Owners in funds to put up bail or other security. The Vessel shall remain on hire for any time lost as a result of such breach.

(b) Save for those stowaways referred to in sub-clause (a), if stowaways have gained access to the Vessel, all expenses, including fines or penalties, shall be for the Owners' account and the Vessel shall be off hire for any time lost.

The clause places responsibility on the charterers for stowaways that board the vessel by any means related to the cargo operation. Any liabilities, losses and costs incurred are to be borne by the charterer and the vessel cannot be off hire. Owners, for their own good, are advised to include the clause in time charter parties for ships (bulk cargo ships and container ships in particular) frequently calling at ports with high stowaway risks. Then they would be able to protect themselves in the event of stowaway cases, but the way stowaways gained access need to be identified first.

VI.    Current stowaway situations

Repatriating stowaways to South Africa

Most countries do not allow disembarkation and repatriation arrangements if stowaways did not board there in the first place, especially without relevant documents. South Africa was not one of them, but policy has changed according to local correspondent P&I Associates (Pty) Ltd. Should any unlawful person gain access onto a ship, the person will be deemed as a stowaway only if the vessel can provide photographic, video or 3rd party evidence (terminal security) that the stowaway attempted to board the vessel in a South African port. The authorities have prohibited non-South African stowaways to be landed at South African ports and ships will have to sail with the stowaways on board until another port that accepts their disembarkation is determined, which is never an easy job. Same situation is observed in Nigeria.

Negative influence of the coronavirus

Stowaways can be a threat to crew member in terms of COVID-19 infection and arranging repatriation has become more challenging in such cases. Crew members should take personal protective measures, including but not limited to wearing masks and washing hands afterwards for any contact with the stowaways found on board. Countries are being cautious with disembarked stowaways who, native or not, are required to take nucleic acid test by the immigration department in South Africa. If the stowaways show negative test results, the authorities will board the ship to investigate whether they get on board from South African port indeed and take them off board upon confirmation. Stowaways are subject to arrest, fines and other penalties. If they test positive for COVID-19, health department will step in, suggesting even more trouble for ships and owners, not to mention the declining number of flights due to airports control around the world.

That being so, the Club suggests that Members should have preventive measures in place, as explained in detail in previous circulars – Circular (CLM) 02/2010, LP 102/2016 and the most recent Loss Prevention Guidance on Stowaway.

For more information, please contact your manager at the Club.