The Ghana Navy rescued seven suspected stowaways from the rudder trunk of a Belgian crude oil tanker approximately 200 nautical miles south of Tema Harbour on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, following an international distress alert.
The men were found concealed inside the MT Cap Felix, a tanker with a gross tonnage of approximately 82,000 tons registered under the Belgian flag. The vessel had departed its last port of call in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, before the discovery of the hidden individuals prompted an emergency response.
The alert reached Ghana’s Maritime Operations Centre through the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Abidjan. The Eastern Naval Command responded swiftly, deploying Ghana Navy Ship (GNS) Achimota under Commander Ishmeal Kofi Quansah. The vessel departed Tema Harbour at approximately 7 p.m. that evening, intercepted the tanker at sea and extracted all seven men from the rudder trunk.
The rudder trunk is a structurally confined cavity at the rear of a ship that houses the vessel’s steering mechanism. Individuals hidden there face extreme risk of crush injuries, flooding and asphyxiation, making it among the most dangerous concealment points on any vessel.
Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, Commodore Solomon Aseidu-Larbi, told the media on Saturday that preliminary investigations suggest the seven are believed to be Ivorian nationals from a Ghanaian community living in Côte d’Ivoire. Authorities believe they boarded the tanker while it was anchored in Ivorian waters before the ship set sail.
The seven have since been transferred to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Ghana Immigration Service and the Marine Police for investigation and legal processing. An immigration officer said the suspects would be profiled before being handed to the Ghana Police Service for possible prosecution.
The MT Cap Felix carries International Maritime Organization (IMO) registration number 9380738.
