World Vision relief ship sinks on its way to Monrovia

A ship chartered by World Vision International to carry relief supplies to Liberia has sunk off the coast of Sierra Leone, Johnson Olufowote, the country director of World Vision said on Monday .

The ship named Madame Patricia left Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, on Saturday carrying 15,000 blankets, 4.8 tonnes of soap, plastic buckets, jerrycans and and sleeping mats for internally displaced people in Liberia, he said.

It sank shortly after leaving port, but managed to send a radio distress message before going down and all 22 people on board, were rescued, Olufowote told IRIN. The passengers included several World Vision employees, he added.

“This incident will not distract from World Vision’s plans to render the necessary assistance to the displaced population in Monrovia, ”Olufowote said. “We will, as a matter of fact, fly some non-food relief items from Germany next week to recover what was contained on the ship.

World Vision has been helping to care for thousands of displaced people at the Samuel K Doe sports stadium in Monrovia. The number of people seeking refuge there has fluctuated greatly, with estimates of the stadium's population at any one time ranging from 10,000 to 52,000.