UYO, Nigeria \u2014 The Nigerian Navy rescued 10 crew members from a sinking cargo vessel off the coast of Akwa Ibom State on Friday night, in a swift maritime operation that underscored the country\u2019s growing role in regional sea safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vessel, MV SEMA III, was traveling from Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to Calabar in southeastern Nigeria when it began taking on water around 8 p.m., according to naval officials. A distress call was relayed to the Navy\u2019s Forward Operating Base in Ibaka, which dispatched a gunboat equipped with a submersible pump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crew \u2014 eight Nigerians, one Cameroonian, and one Equatorial Guinean \u2014 were evacuated and brought ashore safely. They were debriefed and housed overnight at the naval base before being released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Nigerian Navy has once again proven its dedication to saving lives at sea,\u201d Commodore Ayiwuyor Adams-Aliu, the Navy\u2019s director of information, said in a statement. He praised the personnel for their professionalism and rapid response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The master of the vessel, who asked not to be named, described the rescue as \u201cnothing short of miraculous.\u201d \u201cWe were losing hope fast,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Navy arrived just in time. Their speed and calm saved us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the Nigerian crew members, Emmanuel Okon, said the experience was terrifying. \u201cWater was rushing in. We tried everything. When we saw the Navy boat, we knew we had a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement issued Saturday, Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Transportation commended the Navy\u2019s action, calling it \u201ca testament to the country\u2019s growing maritime readiness.\u201d The ministry said it would work with regional partners to improve early warning systems and vessel safety compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of State for Defense Bello Matawalle also weighed in, saying the rescue \u201cdemonstrates the strategic importance of Nigeria\u2019s naval presence in the Gulf of Guinea.\u201d He added that the government is committed to \u201cstrengthening maritime security infrastructure and ensuring that no distress call goes unanswered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident is one of several recent maritime rescues by the Nigerian Navy. Just days earlier, on November 4, naval personnel from the Forward Operating Base in Bonny rescued 11 stranded passengers from a sinking speedboat along the Bonny River in Rivers State. The boat, which had developed engine failure and began taking in water, was spotted during a routine patrol near the Federal Ocean Terminal in Onne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese operations show that our coastal surveillance and emergency response systems are working,\u201d said Dr. Ifeanyi Nwosu, a maritime law expert in Lagos. \u201cBut they also highlight the need for stricter vessel inspections and better enforcement of safety regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No injuries were reported in either incident, and investigations are underway to determine the causes of the vessel failures. Naval engineers are assessing whether MV SEMA III can be salvaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nigerian Navy has conducted several high-profile rescues in recent years, part of a broader effort to assert control over its territorial waters and support regional stability in West Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UYO, Nigeria \u2014 The Nigerian Navy rescued 10 crew members from a sinking cargo vessel off the coast of Akwa Ibom State on Friday night, in a swift maritime operation that underscored the country\u2019s growing role in regional sea safety. The vessel, MV SEMA III, was traveling from Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":23847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,3],"tags":[857,851,853,852,855,849,858,856,850,854,859,848],"class_list":["post-23846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news","tag-defendersofthecoast","tag-distressatsea","tag-emergencyresponse","tag-gulfofguineasecurity","tag-heroesatsea","tag-maritimesafety","tag-maritimesecurity","tag-navalcourage","tag-navytotherescue","tag-nigeriannavy","tag-safetyatsea","tag-searescue"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Rescued.jpg?fit=590%2C470&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23849,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23846\/revisions\/23849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}