Lagos — The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has reassured the maritime community of its “ever-ready 24-hour vigilance” to respond to distress calls using any of the air, land and sea assets.
The Director General of the agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, gave the assurance following the recent rescue of seven distressed workers on board the vessel, MT ALIMA.
The onboard workers were cleaning the tanks of the vessel, when they developed complications due to insufficient oxygen in the tank to sustain them.
A distress call was put across to the NIMASA Director General by the Safety Officer on the vessel and the position (coordinates) of the ship at the time of the call was 06*20.9’’N,003*21.9’’E at the single buoy mooring area in Lagos.
Jamoh had immediately directed the NIMASA Head of the Deep Blue project and Head of the Maritime Safety Department to deploy one of the fast intervention boats for rescue operations and also directed immediate medical attention to the survivors.
Following their rescue, NIMASA took the seven survivors to the military hospital at Ikoyi, Lagos for medical attention. Five of them were reported to be stable, one had a broken leg, and one was in critical condition.
Jamoh, who urged operators to be meticulous about basic safety standards at all times, advised that anyone working on board vessels should update themselves with required training that complies with Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping, STCW, in line with the revised Manila Convention.
He thanked the rescue team for the operation and urged them to keep the maritime tradition of round-the-clock watchkeeping and timely response at all times.
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