18 STOWAWAYS FOUND IN CONTAINER; 3 DEAD
Eighteen stowaways, three of them deceased, were discovered in a soft-top
container aboard NYK Line’s vessel Cape May upon its arrival in Seattle Monday.
The vessel had left Hong Kong 15 days earlier and called at Kaohsiung on its
regular weekly schedule, NYK said. The ship encountered rough whether during the voyage,
which the shipping line said is normal for the North Pacific for this time of year.
The container was stored below deck, which mean the stowaways remained in
side for the full voyage.
U.S. Immigration authorities, acting on a tip, opened the container at
dockside. When the three dead stowaways were found, the FBI was called and is in charge of
the investigation.
The 15 surviving stowaways were in poor health and several were hospitalized.
On Jan. 3, 25 stowaways were found aboard the California Jupiter, also on a
tip, when it arrived in Vancouver. All were alive and are now in Canadian custody.