Four Moroccan stowaways discovered on board a vessel which berthed in Cork yesterday will travel unaccompanied to Dublin today to apply for asylum.
The men stowed away on the MV Cheshire on New Year's Day when it left Morocco bound for the Irish Fertiliser Industries plant at Marino Point in Cork Harbour.
En route, the captain of the vessel discovered the stowaways and placed them under ship's arrest. When the vessel put in to port in Spain the four men tried to seek asylum there but, in keeping with the strict Spanish line on refugees from north Africa, magistrates refused their application and they were forced to continue their journey on board the liquid gas carrier.
Subsequently, they indicated their intention to the Portuguese authorities to seek asylum there, but this request was also refused.
As the ship neared Irish waters, they were locked in a cabin, and the Irish immigration authorities were alerted. However, when immigration officers boarded the vessel, there was no trace of the men.
It was feared the four had jumped into the freezing waters of Cork Harbour and would have little chance of survival.
A search was launched involving an inflatable dinghy from the LE Roisin, as well as local boats and the Crosshaven inshore lifeboat.
The search went on until midnight on Monday. The men eventually appeared on deck early yesterday and made their way to the gangway, where they were met by gardai. It appears they had jumped from their cabin on to a lower deck and managed to hide in the superstructure of the 60,000-tonne ship.
Supt Pat Sheahan said that, as required under the 1996 Refugee Act, the paperwork concerning the men's arrival had been completed in Cobh yesterday and would be forwarded to the Department of Justice.
A spokesman for the Department said that once the asylum application had been made today in Dublin, the men would be taken to one of the many refugee centres in the city.