Chinese Stowaways Found in Long Beach

26 young men from China found in good health at the Port of Long Beach after more than two weeks at sea.

By BRIAN MINAMI

  LONG BEACH.—The Maple River floated into Long Beach Harbor Monday evening ferrying unusually precious cargo.

At least 26 stowaways survived the more than two week trip from mainland China in two soft top containers placed midship on the cargo carrier.

The vessel, operated by the Beijing-based Cosco Group, entered the Chinese ports of Xingang and Dalian before disembarking from Qingdao on March 15. According to the shipping company's website, the Maple River docked in Busan, South Korea and in Vancouver, Canada before reaching Long Beach on April 2.

According to early television news reports, the Fire Department responded to a call from Pier J of the Port of Long Beach and assisted a man who broke his ankle jumping from a steel shipping container. Video footage shot from the air showed glimpses of a container filled with trash and what appeared to be blankets.

Two Chinese were treated at the scene by paramedics for minor injuries and taken to Saint Mary's Hospital in Long Beach. They were subsequently imprisoned with 21 others under INS custody at the Terminal Island Detention Center. "They were in pretty good shape," commented Sharon Gavin, public affairs officer for the L.A. Division of the INS.

Leonard Kovensky, Deputy District Director of the INS in Los Angeles reported that the stowaways are adult males and derive from Fujian Province in China. The migrants told the INS that they entered the container on March 11 in Xingang, China.

Pier J was closed to traffic by 11:00 PM Monday. Truckers waited for their delayed loads at the gated entrance. However, a side entrance accessible only to pedestrians was left unguarded.

One unnamed laborer at the dock who was not present at the time of the ship's arrival and who smelled faintly of beer claimed that "two [men] went into the water when the ship was docked." His report remains unconfirmed.

Nearby the parked ship, another dockworker who likewise declined to be identified lamented the heartless tactics of the smugglers, "They just leave 'em there and run."

"They should put [the container] on a bomb cart," he urged. A bomb cart is a flat bed chassis designed to hold a single 40 foot container. According to this dockworker who earlier helped unload the boat, the loaded bomb cart could be towed inconspicuously by truck.

Early Tuesday morning, INS agents examined other soft top containers as they continued to be lifted from the docked vessel late Monday.

"We aren't letting press in here!" announced one agent before asking an escort to clear reporters from the supposedly sealed dock.

By early Tuesday morning three hidden ocean voyagers made their way to the adjacent pier where the Queen Mary resides. Port Police found them and turned them over to the INS.

The immigrants could be allowed to stay in the U.S. if they make a successful plea for political asylum according to Kovensky. He said, "A number of [immigrants found last year in containers] are in the process of seeking asylum and have been released from custody."

Dubbed 'snakeheads' by the Chinese press, smugglers of hapless immigrants have seemingly increased activity in recent years. According to an INS press release, "This is the 19th container smuggling incident on the West Coast since February 1999." Unfortunately, the evidence of the smuggling operations often consists of dead bodies.

Three Chinese were found dead in a sealed container in Seattle in January 2000; fifteen survived in poor condition. The next day another shipment of Chinese immigrants was found alive in Seattle. In Dover, England last June, 58 Chinese immigrants were found dead, crammed in a truck.

A group of 21 seafaring survivors was discovered at the Port of Long Beach in December 1999.

The Chinese are not alone in seeking passage out of their homeland in cargo containers. African, Kurdish and Carribean people have also paid a dear price in recent years for pursuing the dream of life in the west.