A newborn baby has been baptised on a military naval ship after its mother gave birth on board.

The baby boy was delivered by Vivian, a Nigerian woman who boarded the German naval ship on 6 July after its crew spotted her and more than 650 other passengers endangered at sea.

Vivian as heavily pregnant when she came aboard the ship from the "unseaworthy" vessel that she was rescued from. She had made the journey to the Mediterranean sea via the Libyan coast and was attempting to make her way to mainland Europe.

Once safe on the ship, Vivian gave birth and just a few minutes after doing so, she asked that her baby son be baptised then and there, the Catholic News Agency reported.

Along with the ship's medical team, its military chaplain, Fr Jochen Folz, had offered his assistance to the new mum as soon as he discovered that she had given birth on board.

Fr Folz enlisted the help of the ship's military personnel to obtain the English texts required for the Baptism to be celebrated via the internet. Other crew members helped by getting a a gravy boat and matching dish so that they could be used to house the water and serve no gravy, but holy water. A candle from the officers' wardrobe was also presented.

The Catholic news site also reported that soldiers came to witness the special moment and filled the medical container in which the baptism took place.

The new mum chose to name her son "Ikpomosa" and when asked by the priest during the sacrament what she asked the Church for Ikpomosa, Vivian was said to smile and respond with: "Baptism, faith and eternal life".

Vivian is said to be fleeing the continuing severe persecution of Christians in her home country. Addressing the complexity of her and her son's current situation, Fr Folz said: "The Church offers us a home all over the world, and Ikpomosa is now under the special protection of heaven."