Using Robmarine's information from stowaway casework, overseas offices and their comprehensive database, the following two maps were generated, which highlight stowaway 'hot spots' and migratory patterns. Despite emphasizing the countries largely responsible for stowaways on the 'source countries' page, we feel that it is also necessary to advise users where (according to our data) stowaways actually board vessels.

The main source areas

Due to the fact that many stowaways migrate to other countries before boarding vessels, we have produced the above map to emphasize the extent of the problem. The shaded areas of the map highlight the parts of Africa that are the source of the problem, including Tanzania, Morocco and Ghana; and in addition those areas affected by migrating stowaways such as Mozambique, Algeria and the Ivory Coast.

The significance of this map can be highlighted by the fact that Robmarine have very few records of nationals of Mozambique and Kenya stowing-away, yet both countries represent a real risk to shipowners and masters because of migrating Tanzanian stowaways. In a similar vein, we have limited records of both Algerian and Turkish stowaways, but both countries have a considerable problem with illegal migration.

MIGRATORY PATTERNS

This second map is again based on Robmarine's stowaway statistics and shows the general movement of stowaways throughout Africa and the Middle East. These patterns represent long-term trends in human movement, but periodically shift due to the relocation of refugee camps, changing drug trafficking routes to continental Europe, and weather conditions. The climatic phenomenon known as El Nino, and its younger sister La Nina, play a great role in migration patterns in Africa, respectively causing droughts in summer and severe flooding in East Africa in winter. As a direct result we have found that there is a sharp drop in the number of Tanzanian's travelling south in winter, largely due to flooded roads and collapsed bridges on southbound routes through Mozambique.

On the west coast of Africa, Nigerian and Ghanaian stowaways often travel away from their homelands before boarding vessels, again as a result of weather conditions, human migration, and an ongoing relationship with the drugs trade.

In north Africa we have found that countries such as Morocco and Algeria are used as paths for stowaways travelling towards the Mediterranean and Europe, and people smuggling is rife in the area. Similarly Turkey (well known for its lax border control) acts as a magnet to migrants and stowaways trying to illegally enter Europe. Due to the signing of the Schengen Agreement and the new open boarder policy of many central European countries, we have no records of the movement of stowaways across Europe, but there is evidence to suggest that large numbers of African and west European stowaways successfully transit Europe before boarding vessels at east European ports.