Charterer’s potential exposure and liability for situations involving stowaways. Image credit to: Denys Yelmanov / Shutterstock.com The presence of stowaways on board may bring severe repercussions for vessels and to the shipping industry. Vessels could be delayed in port, the repatriation of stowaways can be very complex and expensive, and the lives of stowaways could be endangered as they potentially spend several days secreted within the vessel or its cargo, with the risk of suffocation and without any water or provisions. When the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code was first implemented in 2004, the number of reported stowaway cases dropped. However, in recent years there has been a surge of incidents, except for a dip in numbers in 2020 resulting from increased control and restrictive measures in place for vessels and ports during the pandemic. The year 2021 again saw an increase in stowaway incidents, which has led to additional pressure on vessel owners where disembarkation of stowaways has become exceedingly challenging because of the pandemic. In 2019, the International Group of P&I Clubs identified African ports as the most likely point of embarkation. The IMO conducted a similar study using submissions received from flag states that highlighted certain ports in Belgium, in particular Zeebrugge, which has been attracting potential stowaways who were economic refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq. Conclusively, though vessels may be far more vulnerable in hot spots such as African ports, the risk is never eliminated in any port world-wide. The FAL Convention and ISPS Code In January 2002, the IMO decided to amend the 1965 Convention on Facilitation of International Marine Traffic (FAL Convention) by incorporating the IMO guidelines on "Allocation of Responsibilities to Seek the Successful Resolution of Stowaway Cases", which sets out the basic principles to be applied in stowaway cases and makes the guidelines legally binding. In 201