Kenya Navy Special Boat Unit (SBU) team rescued a crew of seven from a capsizing boat heading to Tanzania.

Kenya Navy Special Boat Unit (SBU) team rescued a crew of seven from a capsizing boat. The crew of seven, one Indian and six Tanzanians, were allegedly on board MV Ferooz on a voyage to Kismayu, Somalia from Dar Salaam in Tanzania to buy scrap metals.

SBU team leader Lieutenant (Lt) Eric Irungu confirmed that he received a signal on Sunday morning from Kenya Navy Ship (KNS) Jasiri to attend to a distress call from MV Ferooz.

“We responded immediately and found the boat flooding and the engine was off. We immediately embarked on saving the crew before the boat capsized,” added Lt Irungu.

While expressing gratitude, the boat Chief Engineer Swaleh Lamazani emphasized the good relationship and cooperation accorded to them by the Kenya Navy service personnel.

The crew of seven, one Indian and six Tanzanians, were allegedly on board MV Ferooz on a voyage to Kismayu, Somalia from Dar Salaam in Tanzania to buy scrap metals. (COURTESY: KDF) Pulse Live Kenya

“We developed technical complications after our water pump failed and water started flooding the boat’s main engine shutting it down.

Realizing that we were taking in more water than we could draw out, we placed a distress call and Kenya Navy immediately came to our rescue,” noted the engineer.

KNS Jasiri had received a distress call from the boat captain Muhamud Salim who was grateful for the swift response, “I am grateful to Kenya Navy for their quick response and their efforts to save our lives,” the boat Captain added.

“We developed technical complications after our water pump failed and water started flooding the boat’s main engine shutting it down," said Chief Engineer Swaleh. (COURTESY:KDF) Pulse Live Kenya

The crew was rescued and handed over to Lamu Port Police Station for further processing.

SBU is a Kenya naval unit that has been trained by the United States Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) personnel.

The SBU go through a thorough training course including combat medicine, navigation, boat handling, weapons proficiency, and ship boarding procedures. Some of the training takes place at Manda Bay.