Twenty-five migrants have been found in a refrigerated container on a ferry bound for the UK from the Netherlands.
It comes just weeks after 39 bodies, all believed to be Vietnamese migrants, were found in a lorry in Essex on 23 October, after arriving on a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium.
In the latest incident, the Britannia Seaways ship returned to the port of Vlaardingen, near Rotterdam, after the stowaways were discovered.
Two of the stowaways were taken to hospital for treatment and the remaining 23 were taken away by police.
Gert Jakobsen, vice president of communications with the ship’s operator DFDS, said the migrants were found after they made a hole in the trailer.
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The roll on, roll off ferry was not far off the Dutch coast en route to Felixtowe, Suffolk, when the discovery was made at around 5pm on Tuesday. The migrants were taken to hospital after being found behind the scene
Emergency services at the scene The migrants were in a ship that had set course for the North Sea from Vulcaanhaven in Rotterdam-Vlaardingen Mr Jakobsen said police were waiting at the port and the migrants were taken to hospital by ambulance to check for hypothermia.
He said: ‘We don’t know about the checks. Of course, they were not in a very good condition. ‘Unfortunately this is not the first time we have had such a situation. Of course, it’s rare they hide in a refrigerated trailer.
‘But we do find migrants even though we try to prevent it.’ The ages, sex or where the migrants are from is as of yet unknown.
