The smugglers promised that a cruise liner would take them to Canada in comfort. But the MV Lady 3 did not meet such lofty expectations.
Rusting and decrepit, the Myanmar-flagged fishing vessel was barely seaworthy, with no sleeping quarters and just two toilets for the 303 largely Tamil men, women and children packed on board. The food was scant — thin porridge or rice, infested with bugs. And the drinking water was the same orange colour as the flaking hull.
In 30 days at sea last fall, the ship managed to cover only 3,500 kilometres — about a fifth of the distance to
