The last week of October has been one of the most dramatic on the Canarian immigration route since records have been kept. It closed with seven immigrants dead on land and almost a hundred during the crossing. In addition, many of the survivors were hospitalized due to the poor health they arrived with. Since then, there have been repeated scenes of immigrants arriving at the coast almost with their last breath, forcing quick action to save their lives. Five more immigrants have died in the last two days: two arrived lifeless on land and three died in hospitals a few hours after arriving.
The state of health with which they arrive now has nothing to do with that of the last months, and the explanation is very simple: the change of the sea. The time of calms, which is the time of the year that goes from August to the end of October and which is characterized by the sea being like a pool of oil, is over and the cayucos they have to dodge waves of several meters to reach the Canary Islands.
This raging sea makes travel conditions difficult and lengthens the crossing days, which causes immigrants to arrive in a worse state of health. Difficulties sometimes involve the engine breaking down or not having enough fuel, leaving them adrift. Many immigrants don't make it, and those who do can't even speak when they hit the ground. This change in the state of health of the immigrants who arrive on the islands is precisely one of the arguments against the supply ship theory, which has been talked about for 20 years, when the migratory phenomenon began in the Canaries, and which has gained strength in this latest wave due to the intensity of the arrivals and the good physical appearance of the immigrants.
The theory suggests that these supply ships transport all the cayucos up to 15 or 18 miles from the Canary coast and at that point they leave them to finish the journey on their own in exchange for thousands of euros. "Now they are arriving very well, nothing to do with what happened in 2006. You can see that there are supply ships that leave them nearby", indicated a few weeks ago a health professional from the island of El Hierro. The suspicion of the supply ships is even shared by National Police agents, who before the dramatic week in October unofficially pointed out that, due to the state of health presented by most of the immigrants when they arrived, the levels of hydration and the intact mobility with which they touched land, "it was impossible" that they would have managed on their own the 1,500 kilometers that separate the African coasts from the Canary Islands.
Ismael Furió, a member of Salvament Marítim and who for more than 12 years worked in immigrant rescues on the Canary coast, is clear that supply ships do not exist.
His colleagues from El Hierro and Tenerife - where most of the Cayucos arriving from the coasts of Senegal towards the Canary Islands - also rule out that there are commercial or fishing boats that take the immigrants close to the coast. "Many of the Cayucos take three or four days to arrive. Engines are getting more powerful and boats are getting better. If the sea is in good condition, they arrive quickly. It's not the eight or ten days it took in 2006", says one of the Salvament Marítim crew in El Hierro, who also points out that none of the immigrants who have arrived have explained that there are supply ships.
"To begin with, it is impossible for a vessel, whether fishing or merchant, to stop at a point in the Atlantic and begin an operation that may involve an hour or more, with the disembarkation from the holds of a cayuco with 200 or 300 people, and no one sees anything in one of the most frequented and most monitored areas of maritime traffic", says Furió.
The Canary Islands area is controlled by Civil Guard patrol boats, there are Navy radars and SIVE radars (integrated external surveillance systems, which reach ten kilometers), in addition to Salvament control towers Maritime from the ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Sasemar planes that monitor the area.
In addition, all ships are required to have the Ais identification system activated, which allows the position, course and speed of the ship to be known at all times, as well as the origin and destination. Both fishermen and merchants usually sail at a speed that varies between 16 and 25 knots (between 30 and 46 kilometers per hour). If they were towing a cayuco, Furió explains, they would have to reduce their speed to five or six knots (between 9 and 11 km/h) to prevent the cayuco from overturning. If they slowed it down on the fly, the speed reduction would show up on radars and stand out.
Furió points out that the cayucos that leave Senegal should not be seen as weak boats, because the reality is quite different. "They are boats of about 25 or 30 meters in length, with great range and stability. When you enter, the freeboard reaches a height of two meters and you understand everything", explains Furió. As he points out, the Cayucos are used in their countries to fish and stay away from the coast for days at a time.
In addition to the good conditions for sailing, there are 50 or 60 horse Yamaha Enduro-style outboard engines, which, although they are old, are "indestructible". As he explains, these engines are modified so that they cool constantly and can withstand the days of uninterrupted output. The cayucos leave Senegal with up to two engines and plenty of fuel. "They are engines that, as long as they work at moderate and constant revolutions, do not need fuel and have cooling, they can operate without any problem for days and days, since they are very robust and simple mechanics", assures Furió, who, in moreover, another important detail stands out, which is that in the south of the Canary Islands the weather is tropical, so that there are usually calm windows at sea.
Furió considers that the theory of supply ships is interesting to feed it to justify the low effectiveness of the SIVE to detect the boats leaving from Africa. Installed on all the islands, "they cost a million and are of no use", remarks Furió.
With the intense arrivals of the last few hours, on Saturday the Canary Islands set a new historical record and left behind that of 2006, when 31,678 people arrived during the Cayucos crisis. Since the beginning of 2023, 31,686 people have arrived in the Canary Islands and there are still two months to go before the end of the year. This October has been the most intense in terms of arrivals from the Canary Islands, with 14,976 immigrants, almost half of the whole year, with an average of almost 500 a day.
