The incident had gone unnoticed until men of Kaztec Engineering Limited aboard the Ekulo Explorer spotted two people floating in the water. They jumped to action and rescued the survivors, administering first aid treatment. The Kaztec crew transported the survivors to Bakor Medical Centre in Calabar to receive further care. The crew later returned to the area where the survivors were found to recover nine bodies from the ill-fated craft.

Sir Emeka Offor, Executive Chairman of Kaztec Engineering, and founder of the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, paid a visit to Bakor Medical Centre to express his sympathy to the two survivors. When he inquired about the details of the incident, one of the survivors, Sani Kieve, of Togolese extraction, related that he had been in the water for three days before discovery, hanging on for dear life to a gas cylinder, along with the other survivor, Hafsat, a teenager from the Niger Republic.

Sir Offor voiced his gratitude to God for the miraculous way He used the men of the Company to save their lives. He offered donations of cash and food items, and also made an offer to employ the two of them as soon as they are discharged.

Following these events, the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ziakade Patrick Akpobolokemi, commended Kaztec Engineering Limited for its role in the rescue of the survivors.

“The timely deployment of your men on the search and rescue mission leading to the rescue of several survivors and the application of first aid before prompt evacuation to standard hospitals for treatment speaks volumes of your sterling leadership qualities and exemplary behaviour.”