Japan's NYK transportation group and protection and indemnity insurer UK P&I Club have joined to tackle the increasingly expensive problem of stowaways onboard ships.
This comes amid reports of a 100 per cent increase in stowaway incidents in the last decade, which cost the international shipping industry more than US$20 million a year.
Fifty members of NYK senior regional management, terminal representatives from major Chinese ports including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shekou and Shanghai, and representatives from the UK Club met for a conference recently to discuss the issue at NYK Line (China) Ltd offices.
NYK said it wants to raise awareness of stowaway problems among its shore-based and terminal operators in China and of the preventive measures available to reduce the number of stowaways.
The UK Club's Peter Lau said that in 2007 his club was involved in around 120 stowaway cases, costing over $2 million. Numbers have fallen since 1998-2003 when they were consistently between 350 and 400. The average cost per case has climbed from under $6,000 in 2000 to around $14,500 in 2007.
During 1998-2007, South Africa topped the list of countries in which UK Club stowaway cases arose with 190. Next came the Ivory Coast at 169, followed by Senegal at 165, Argentina with 106 and the United States with 105 cases. Between 50 and 80 cases arose in Italy, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Spain and Gabon.
The main regions for stowing away are China and west and East Africa. Despite official efforts, the tide of illegal immigrants coming to the US and Europe from Asia, particularly China, continues to cause concern as shippers, slot charterers and some terminal personnel sometimes collude, the release said.
Ro-ro and multi-cargo vessels have proved the most popular ships for stowaways over the 10-year period, accounting for 31 per cent of cases. They are followed by bulk carriers at 23 per cent, and containerships and general cargo vessels, at 16 per cent each.
Mr Lau added: "The stowaway problem is never going to go away. Individuals seeking a better life will always find ways to get aboard ships, and those making money from the trafficking of people will always manage to conceal their cargo and ship it without detection.
"The container trade offers a tempting pipeline for smugglers which can only be tackled through close cooperation between terminals and ship owners."
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