Five Dominican stowaways aboard the Well Pescador freight ship, which had departed from the port of Haina Oriental and was en route to Houston, Texas, owe their lives to four dolphins after they were discovered by crewmembers and ejected from the vessel. Christian Encarnaci?n, Jos? Guerrero Marte and Franklyn Rojas say that dolphins escorted them for about four hours in the shark-infested waters until their rescue by a ship flying a Phillippine flag. The stowaways had made their presence known to the crew when their drinking water ran out, after hiding in the hull for seven days. The crew obliged them to build a fragile barge with pieces of wood and empty plastic bottles, and then were made to jump ship. Cousins William Genao de Leon, 20, and Franklyn de Leon, 17, are reported to have drowned.
According to Hoy newspaper, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) arrested 21 members of the Asian crew and detained the ship