Stowaways found on a ship's rudder in Spain's Canary Islands

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service says it has rescued three stowaways travelling on a ship's rudder in the Canary Islands after the vessel sailed there from Nigeria.

The men, found on the Alithini II oil tanker at the Las Palmas port, appeared to have symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia and were transferred to hospitals on the island for medical attention, Spain's Salvamento Maritimo said.

According to the MarineTraffic website which tracks ships, the Malta-flagged vessel left Lagos, Nigeria on November 17 and arrived in Las Palmas on Monday.

Though extremely dangerous, it is not the first time stowaways have been found travelling on the rudder of commercial ships to the Canary Islands. Last year a 14-year-old Nigerian boy was interviewed by Spain's El Pais newspaper after surviving two weeks on a ship's rudder. He had also departed from Lagos.