By Uzor Odigbo
The timely intervention by combined team of Search and Rescue personnel from Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) saved what could have been an Independence Day disaster.
The Search and Rescue personnel of both agencies successfully rescued crew aboard “MV Monitor” on Lagos waters.
TheNiche was reliably informed that the service boat at (Kuramo) Lagos waters sent distress calls to the relevant authorities for help in the early hours of Tuesday.
The crew, it was gathered, were tensed up aboard the orange-coloured vessel before swift response and intervention from the maritime regulatory agencies.
Though, it was unable to ascertain the cause of the distress at press time but it was learnt that several signals were sent out by the crew for help.
Some of the messages include: “URGENT …….A VESSEL IS RUNNING AGROUND NOW . MAYDAY! MAYDAY !! MAYDAY!
“Mayday mayday… if your vessel is close to Dangote jetty or Kuramo please come to our rescue… MV MONITOR is about to ground, an orange-coloured service boat,” the messages read.
Meanwhile, the relevant agencies are yet to release any form of detailed information about the distress vessel and crew.