Seven suspected stowaways from a crude oil tanker operating off the Tema coast have been rescued by the Ghana Navy.

This comes after the tanker issued an alert over the presence of the suspects in its rudder trunk.

News of the rescue was announced by Commodore Solomon Asiedu-Larbi, Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, at a press conference held at the Naval Base in Tema on Saturday, May 16.

The tanker, identified as MT Cap Felix, was said to be operating about 200 nautical miles south of Tema Harbour at the time the stowaways were found.

According to the Flag Officer, the Navy quickly responded to the alert and deployed the Navy Ship Achimota around 7 p.m. the same day under the command of Commander Ishmael Kofi Quansah to intercept the vessel at sea.

He said the ship reached the tanker and safely rescued the suspects, all males, from the rudder trunk.

He explained that the suspects are reportedly from a Ghanaian community in Côte d’Ivoire and boarded the tanker while it was anchored in Ivorian waters.

The suspects are currently in the custody of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Ghana Immigration Service and the Marine Police for profiling while further investigations continue, after which they will be handed over to the Ghana Police Service.

He further explained that MT Cap Felix is a Belgian-flagged crude oil tanker with a gross tonnage of about 82,000 tonnes and IMO number 9380738, adding that its last port of call before the incident was Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire.