How to handle stowaway cases in Spanish ports

The Skuld P&I Club has issued circular to provide an overview of the issues surrounding stowaways found onboard vessels destined for Spanish ports. The circular provides advice upon the treatment of stowaways in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Spanish authorities, in addition to MedPandi’s own experience in the handling of stowaways in Spanish ports.

If a stowaway is found onboard a vessel destined for a Spanish port, the following steps should be taken:

1. The Master should notify the Spanish authorities of the presence of a stowaway onboard prior to the vessel’s arrival at a Spanish port.
2. Upon the vessel’s arrival at a Spanish port, the Immigration Police will attend the vessel in order to interview and confirm the identity the stowaway, and assess the situation regarding the conditions in which the stowaway is being kept, security, etc
3. It is important that the stowaway is kept in suitable conditions and is provided with the necessary food and water. If the authorities deem that the stowaway is being kept in inhumane and degrading conditions, the stowaway will be disembarked immediately in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
4. In the case of the stowaway being a minor (under 18 years of age), they will also automatically be disembarked immediately upon the vessel’s arrival into a Spanish port.
5. Medical attention will be provided to the stowaway onboard should if it be necessary, unless the situation is more serious and requires the stowaway to be transferred to a hospital.
6. Unless the stowaway needs to be disembarked for humanitarian or medical reasons, they will remain onboard the vessel under the responsibility of the Master. Before the vessel is allowed to sail from a Spanish port with a stowaway still onboard, the Master will need to issue and sign a declaration to the Spanish authorities, acknowledging that the stowaway will remain onboard under the responsibility of the Master.
7. All of the costs derived from the presence of the stowaways, whether onboard the vessel or caused by any potential disembarkation of the stowaway (food, drink, accommodation, interpreters, security, repatriation costs, etc.) will need to be settled by the vessel’s agent in the first instance, as the representative of the owner of the vessel in Spain before the Spanish authorities.

More details may be found by reading Skuld’s Circular

Source: The Skuld P&I Club