Five injured as container ship, oil tanker collide near Bonny, causing spill

Five crew members were injured after a container vessel and an oil tanker collided near Bonny in Rivers State on Tuesday, triggering an oil spill and prompting an emergency response by Nigerian maritime authorities.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said the incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. at the Bonny Inner Anchorage when MV Maersk Valparaiso, a Singapore-flagged container vessel, collided with MT Lady Martina, a Nigerian-flagged oil products tanker.

In a statement on Wednesday, the agency said the collision happened around Latitude 4.512375 and Longitude 7.189429 and resulted in an oil spill in the affected area.

NIMASA said its Deep Blue Forward Operating Base in Bonny received a distress call immediately after the incident and deployed 10 armed personnel aboard one of its interceptor boats to the scene.

According to the agency, five crew members onboard MT Lady Martina sustained “varying degrees of injuries” and were evacuated to the Forward Operating Base sickbay in Bonny for treatment.

The agency said the oil tanker later drifted ashore and is now grounded along the Bonny Channel, while the container vessel remains grounded at the Bonny Inner Anchorage pending damage assessment and investigation.

NIMASA said the management of Maersk officially reported the incident to the agency, after which its director-general, Dayo Mobereola, ordered a full investigation into both the immediate and remote causes of the collision.

The agency also announced the establishment of a “Situation Monitoring Room” to coordinate response efforts and track developments arising from the accident.

Mobereola, who visited Rivers State following the incident, directed NIMASA’s Marine Environment Management Department to immediately begin an Environmental Impact Assessment of the affected area and take steps to mitigate the impact of the spill.

NIMASA described the spill as a “Tier 1 oil sheen,” indicating a relatively limited spill category, though the full environmental impact remains unclear.

The Bonny Channel is one of Nigeria’s busiest maritime corridors, linking key oil and gas export terminals and serving commercial shipping traffic into the Niger Delta region.

The agency said further updates would be communicated as investigations continue.