●As rescue efforts on Thursday failed
A tug boat piloting a barge loaded with containers has sunk at berth 10 of Tin-can Island port, with the pilot of the tug boat said to have escaped death by the whiskers.
The berth is operated by Five Star Logistics Nigeria Limited while the tug boat belongs to Medlog, said to be the logistics arm of one of the multinational shipping lines.
On the reason for the sinking of the tug boat over a week ago, the nedia reported conflicting reasons.
While a dockworker said the crane hook which was to discharge the containers had fallen on the tug boat causing rupture that resulted in it taking in water rapidly; a staff member of the Five Star Logistics said that the tug boat in its effort to berth the barge had rammed into the quay apron causing a rupture that resulted in the barge taking in water.
The dockworker who said that the incident occurred on Thursday last week, further disclosed that the tug boat sank shortly before efforts to rescue it could be made.
Last Thursday, efforts were on by the terminal operators to salvage the vessel.
Two heavy duty barge cranes were on hand, with divers trying to connect both hooks of the cranes to the vessel under the water.
The rescue effort was unsuccessful as cable of the two cranes snapped just as the tug boat was being pulled out of the water.
