The Spanish coastguard, along with local police, successfully rescued two Nigerian migrants who had hidden on the rudder of a ship arriving in the Canary Islands from Togo. The rescue

operation took place on Monday night at the port of Las Palmas. Following their rescue, the migrants were taken to a hospital for assessment. After being released, they were returned to the ship, which is obligated to transport them back to their port of origin, as stated by the port police via Twitter.

Videos and photographs shared on Twitter by the Las Palmas maritime police show the two stowaways crouched on the rudder beneath the ship's hull, just above the waterline of the MSC Marta. The migrants are reported to be 19 and 22 years old, according to a spokesperson for the Guardia Civil police.

The coastguard spokesperson mentioned that the container ship's previous stop before reaching the Canary Islands was Lome, the capital of Togo, but did not provide further details.

The MSC Marta departed from Lagos, Nigeria, on July 2 and made a stop in Togo on July 4, as reported by local newspaper La Provincia, indicating that the migrants had been onboard for at least seven days.

This incident bears similarities to a previous case in November of the previous year, where the Spanish coastguard rescued three African stowaways who had spent 11 days clinging to the rudder of a fuel tanker from Nigeria before arriving in the Canary Islands.

According to Spanish law, stowaways who do not seek asylum must be returned by the ship's operator to the port of origin. The Canary Islands, under Spanish ownership, have become a perilous gateway for African migrants attempting to reach Europe. Photo by Pepelopex, Wikimedia commons.