The 13 persons onboard a Naval vessel identified as Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Encounter have survived when the Offshore Maritime Security (OMS) patrol vessel went up in flames and sunk while at sea patrolling the waterways.
The survivors were rescued by Naval personnel who were alerted by a canoe operator passing by, after they floated for hours on the open waters outside bar at Lagos Anchorage.
It was learnt that the vessel which was on patrol ran into hitches at the Lagos Anchorage when a minor electrical fault snowballed into a huge fire that almost claimed the lives of the 13-man crew.
The crew initially attempted to put out the fire, but when the fire proved resistant and showed signs of exploding, they jumped into the sea.
“The incident happened outside bar at exactly 13 nautical miles from the naval jetty at NNS Beecroft. Before they were rescued, they floated for over two hours and would have suffered from hypothermia if they had stayed even longer,” Thisday quoted an anonymous source as saying.
“They couldn’t even call for help because they were out of network area and even if there was network, they had nothing on them because they fled as soon as it dawned on them that there was nothing they could do to extinguish the flames,” the source said.
A board of inquiry had since been set up the Navy.
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