The three were confirmed dead while two persons were reported missing after tragedy struck the ship, ITB Jacksonville, near Apapa port in Nigerian city of Lagos on Sunday.
Ten persons, all of them Indians, were rescued after the incident and taken to a hospital for emergency medical attention.
"All the rescued persons were Indians. They were taken to a search and rescue hospital in Apapa port in Lagos," a spokesperson for the Nigerian Maritime Administration (NIMASA), Lami Tumaka, said.
Three bodies were later recovered but two are still missing. NIMASA is the body responsible for rescue operations on Nigeria's territorial waters.
On the origin of the ship, Tumaka said the vessel was flying Liberian flag though the documents found on it said Panama, which made the origin difficult to ascertain. Eyewitnesses said the ship's engine exploded and the vessel went ablaze as it approached Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos. The fire spread very fast but a search and rescue operation succeeded in rescuing some people, an eyewitness said. The accident occurred barely a day after another incident on an oil ship threw three workers off board with one person still missing. French company, Total Oil Company, for which the ship was operating in its field off Nigeria's coast, said the accident was caused when a crane collapsed on the drilling ship.
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