Three stowaways found on tug

By Wimpie Heath

EAST LONDON -- Three Kenyan stowaways rescued off a tug being towed to Taiwan were taken into custody here yesterday after spending three days without food or water in stormy seas.

The tug Tam-Bau, which has no power or engine, was being towed by a salvage tug, the Salvage Queen, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where it will be refurbished.

The stowaways, one of whom is a 16-year-old, sneaked on board the tug, belonging to Asia Marine, when it docked in Cape Town last Monday, police liaison officer Captain Shannon Kirkhoff said.

The frightened stowaways were discovered when the crew of the Salvage Queen saw them waving their arms in the air to attract attention in seven-metre-high swells off the Port Elizabeth coast in stormy weather last week.

The Salvage Queen was turned around in an attempt to get the men off the Tam-Bau, but the salvage tug suffered damage in the storm and had to go for temporary repairs in Port Elizabeth harbour.

The stowaways were left on board Tam-Bau for three days until another tug, Osa Valiant, took them aboard at 3 am on Friday.

The men were fed and given the necessary care in terms of immigration regulations until they were released into police custody in East London harbour yesterday.

Immigration officer Calvin Murray said deportation proceedings would be opened if investigations showed they were illegal aliens.

One of the men apparently has a holiday passport, another has some travel documents, but the third has no documentation.