Descriptions of five Sri Lankans who jumped ship in Cork at the weekend have been circulated to all ports, airports and Garda stations in the Republic. Gardai believe the men may be using Ireland as a stepping stone to enter the UK.
A spokesman said gardai are satisfied that the men, who range in age from 21 to 28, deliberately left their ship, the Greek-registered oil tanker, The Kriti Ruby, as it was moored at Whitegate oil refinery.
"Even though they ordered a taxi to bring them into Cork on the pretext of going for a social night out, we are satisfied that they deliberately missed their boat probably with a view to trying to get into Britain from here," the spokesman said. The last sighting of the men was in Cork city centre at about 6 p.m. last Thursday.
