Masters should search the stowaway upon discovery and confiscate any weapons. Remove all passports, papers, personal belongings and shoes. The stowaway should then be secured in a locked cabin, with minimum comforts. If necessary, the stowaway should be guarded. The ship's complement must be allowed to become friendly with the stowaway or show any sympathy for his plight.
Stowaways often try to hide identification papers in cabins etc.
Stowaways should not be put to work while on board, and no stowaway should be given the opportunity to work his passage. This is very important, as some ports are more amenable to the removal and repatriation of stowaways than others. The Club should also be advised if the vessel is returning directly to the country where the stowaway is known to have embarked. Opportunists are usually individuals who act on their own, having made the decision to stowaway on the spur of the moment. Possibly stevedores, or people closely associated with them, the opportunist stowaway is likely to be ill-prepared and so the easiest to deter.