'Lola' travels from US to Belgium in shipping container

A cat discovered in a shipping container by transport company Gosselin Group survived a 6,500km trip from the US city of Baltimore to Belgium's port of Antwerp, writes De Telegraaf. Gosselin employee Werner Peeters (pictured) was busy unloading the container when he suddenly noticed the cat between a box and a forklift. Lola, as the animal was named by the company's employees, survived the four-week trip across the Atlantic in complete darkness, without food or water.

“She's alive, but she is very skinny,” a spokesman from Gosselin Group told the Dutch newspaper. Because of her poor condition, Lola was “easy to catch”, say staff members, who immediately tended to the animal. They gave the cat food and water, and even set up a small crowdfunding campaign to cover her medical expenses.

The cat must have started its journey in Baltimore, according to the spokesman, as “it was the first time that the container was opened.”

The animal will remain in Peeters' care until its owners in the US can be located.