FREETOWN (Reuters) - Around 70 people drowned when an overloaded ship sank in rough seas off the coast of Sierra Leone, survivors and maritime officials said on Friday. Three survivors of the disaster said the vessel had left Tombo on the southern shore of the Freetown peninsula carrying petrol, kerosene and rice on Wednesday when it ran into trouble. "I believe our boat would have resisted the storm but because the boat was overloaded it capsized and sank," crew member Alimamy Sumba told reporters. The disaster is the latest in a series of shipping accidents that has cost hundreds of lives this year in the area. "Unless drastic measures are taken by the government against local boat crews, these sea disasters will not come to a halt," Patrick Kemokai, general manager of the Sierra Leone Port Authority, told reporters. The government imposed a ban on internal shipping during an attack on Freetown by rebels in January. It has not been lifted but is widely ignored by traders profiting from the closure of the main highway into Freetown by rebels. The traders take petrol and other goods from Freetown around the coast and up rivers to inland towns, then bring palm oil back to the capital from the interior. Separately, Kemokai said three ships from Europe had docked in Freetown on Thursday, the first commercial vessels to arrive since the January fighting, in which port facilities were badly damaged. Among their cargoes were 5,000 tonnes of flour and other foodstuffs. Another cargo ship chartered by the World Food Programme is expected in Freetown on Friday with 1,100 tonnes of food aid, including 600 tonnes of rice donated by Italy. This will be the first time the WFP has used the main port since the fighting in January, the WFP said in a statement.