A lone British rower has been rescued after he got into difficulties in the ocean to the south of Lagos.The Maritime Authority said the 35-year-old man was rescued about 30 miles south of Lagos in an operation coordinated by the captain of the local port and which took place during the afternoon and evening of last Friday.
An alert was received early in the afternoon after the solitary navigator, in his seven meter rowing boat, was in difficulty due to poor sea conditions and water swamping the vessel.
The operation, coordinated by the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Lisbon, involved the Sagres lifeboat (pictured above) which sped to his rescue.
A merchant ship under a Maltese flag stopped to help the endangered rowing boat and stayed nearby until the lifeboat arrived.
Also on Friday, the Portimão Maritime Police caught three Spaniards in the Ria de Alvor who were digging up ragworms to be used as fishing bait.
The men has collected 21 kilos of these protected annelids, which were returned to the river.
These invertebrates play an important role in the aquatic ecosystem, "contributing directly and indirectly to the feeding of numerous species," said a Maritime Police spokesman.
