Britannia crew find migrants in refrigerated trailer
On Tuesday 19 November, a critical situation occurred as a large group of 25 migrants were trying to get to the UK hidden in a refrigerated trailer on board Britannia Seaways enroute from Vlaardingen to Felixstowe.
The migrants were found around 17:00 CET because they had made a hole in the trailer. Britannia decided to return to Vlaardingen, and police officers entered the ship from a police boat that met them as soon as Britannia entered the port.
When the ship arrived in Vlaardingen around 20:00, waiting ambulances transported the migrants to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. The police is investigating the incident as we write this.
According to the police in Rotterdam, the two migrants who were taken to hospital to be checked for hypothermia, have both been released from the hospital again. The police also informed that they believe most of the migrants are from the Middle East.
The police’s press release can be found here (in Dutch): https://www.politie.nl/nieuws/2019/november/20/verstekelingen-koelcontainer-vermoedelijk-uit-koeweit-en-irak.html