July 20, (THEWILL) – Nine officials of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), a Swedish Captain and a Chinese crew member, have been reported missing after a cargo ship, Niko Ivanka, sank off the coast of Liberia at the weekend.
The Liberian-registered Niko Ivanka left the capital, Monrovia, on Saturday for a port in the country’s south, despite being under a detention order for failing to meet basic safety requirements
Maritime Commissioner, Eugene Nagbe, said the ship had been barred from setting sail.
The vessel sent out a distress signal that afternoon, notifying the coastguard that it had taken on water. By the time authorities arrived, it had already partially sunk.
Eighteen people were on the ship’s manifest, 11 of whom had been rescued during a 36-hour search, Commissioner Nagbe told reporters on Monday.
But those rescued said that there were in fact, about 28 people on board, leaving 17 missing.
“For now, our concern is a search and rescue mission. My focus is the lives of those people missing,” Nagbe said.
It was not clear how or why the ship was able to leave harbour or whether it was carrying any cargo at the time.
The vessel’s owner, a Chinese national, was arrested on Sunday afternoon, Nagbe said.
“The vessel was not a passenger-authorised vessel and yet it had passengers on board. So in the coming days, investigation will establish how many people were on board,” Deputy Information Minister, Jarlaywah Tonpoe told newsmen.
