Stowaway cat survives two-week voyage to Britain from Egypt

Pharoah the cat has survived after stowing away in a container on a merchant ship that arrived at the British port of Felixstowe after a 3,000 mile journey from Egypt.

The hungry animal was found in a container after two weeks on board the MV Maersk Batam which travelled from the Port Said in Egypt to the Suffolk port.

John Biscoe, of GMA Freight, said: "We opened this container that had just arrived from Egypt to ensure that it was all in order and I was with the forklift operator and became aware there was something in there. It was a container with wire coils and I said there was a cat in there.



"The other chap wondered if it was a lion or something but then this little thing jumped out and started rubbing around my legs."

"He was very scrawny and we gave him a bowl of water and one of my colleagues gave him his sandwich ~ he ate the meat very quickly," said Mr Biscoe. "He must have been someone's pet in Egypt – he was very happy to see us."

Two RSPCA officers collected Pharaoh and he is now being looked after a quarantine cattery near Colchester, Essex. He will be kept at the cattery for five and a half months because of rabies quarantine regulations.