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Passenger Ship Stranded on High Sea off Nigeria's Southern Coast
Two hundred passengers on board a Cotonou-bound ship which sailed from Gabon are now stranded on the high sea off the coast of Brass River in Nigeria's southern state of Bayelsa, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Tuesday.
The Nigerian-owned MV Mulolinja is said to have been grounded in the area since August 18.
Navy Captain Gabriel Onah was quoted as saying that the 200 passengers, including men, women and children, are on board the grounded ship.
"There are people like Ghanaians, Senegalese, Sierra Leoneans, even Nigerians. I have been informed that there are 17 Nigerians on board," Onah said. "We found out that the ship was drifting in the wee hours of August 18, off the coastal area and we have been offering assistance to the stranded occupants."
He said that when he and his colleagues went on board the ship, the passengers were hungry because of having neither water nor food and the ship itself has no anchor.
The navy captain said that the navy have sent three doctors and a nurse to supply the medical needs to the passengers, most of whom are sick.
The ship could have sunk or rammed into another ship or a rock to kill all the passengers if it was not rescued in time, he added.
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