RCMP seizes vessel carrying 76 off B.C. coast

[CHIMO]

Source: CBC News

An RCMP emergency response team boarded and took control of a vessel carrying 76 people Saturday off the British Columbia coast and was piloting it to port.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan issued a statement saying a vessel named Ocean Lady, of unknown origin and carrying unidentified individuals and cargo, entered Canadian waters early Saturday.

In an interview with CBC News, Van Loan said early information indicated that the people on the boat may be from Sri Lanka, but that was still unconfirmed.

"Obviously they're arriving in an unconventional fashion, so that raises concerns and the potential of human smuggling or concerns of that nature," Van Loan said.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/17/vessel-seized-bc-rcmp.html

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Caught off the coast between Alaska and mainland USA. No word yet on the cargo.

[Oregone]

1. I wonder how much this happens around here

I live right by where they unloaded em

[BobTheSubgenius]

3. Me too, more or less.

Ogden Point is about a half hour walk from my house.

[proteus_lives]

2. That area makes me think Chinese or asian people.

Could be wrong though.

[CHIMO]

4. Aparently $45,000

To get on the boat.

Migrant ship likely tied to Indonesian smuggling ring
A ship carrying dozens of unidentified men seized off the coast of B.C. on Saturday might be part of a massive, international people-smuggling operation run by an Indonesian ship captain.

Abraham Lauhenapessy, known as Captain Bram, was recently arrested aboard a boat carrying 255 Sri Lankan asylum seekers off the coast of western Java, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirmed Monday.

Some of the Sri Lankans on that vessel told officials they knew about the ship with 76 other asylum seekers picked up by Canadian authorities off Vancouver Island on Saturday

They said they had been offered places on that vessel, the Ocean Lady, but chose to try to reach Australia instead because at $15,000 US, it was much cheaper than the Canadian option, which cost $45,000 US.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/19/bc-migrant-ship-indonesia-captain-bram.html

MIGRANT SHIP

They are dozens of desperate men, who poured faith and fortune into one dubious lady to carry them to Canada.

A great deal of mystery still surrounds the seventy-six migrants found aboard the rusty freighter, Ocean Lady, that was seized by Canadian authorities off the coast of Vancouver Island on Friday. But today, unconfirmed details of their ordeal are surfacing. The men, who have been transferred to Maple Ridge, B.C., for processing by Canadian Border Services, appear to be Tamils hailing from Sri Lanka.

David Poopalapillai is a spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. We reached him in Vancouver.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/latestshow.html
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20091019-aih-2.wmv