The Ghana Navy has taken delivery of a naval vessel to protect the nation’s territorial waters and offshore oil activities.
Delivered under an agreement between the Ghanaian and the Korean governments, the quick attack armoured vessel has a cabin capacity for a 28-member crew and is equipped to distil sea water into fresh water.
According to a source at the Western Naval Command, the vessel is expected to be named after one of the former top commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces.
It said the vessel had greater speed than any of the vessels currently under the command of the Ghana Navy and would help the Navy to increase its presence in the maritime domain, especially protecting the Jubilee Fields from intrusion by fishermen and pirates.
It said currently new vessels with designs to meet the country’s security needs were under construction in Korea and China and would soon be delivered to augment the fleet of the Ghana Navy.
It said the vessel had undergone its first maintenance at the home port of the Western Naval Command and was awaiting its official inauguration by President J.E.A. Mills.
The source added that Ghana’s coastline would be patrolled to ensure that the country’s fish stock was protected to make the issue of pair-trawling a thing of the past.
It noted that there were plans for the establishment of a military unit in the Jomoro District of the Western Region to serve as a base for the Navy, the Ghana Air Force and the Ghana Police Service.
At the moment, most of the vessels of the Ghana Navy are old and this has brought much pressure on the military budget in terms of maintenance and running cost.
The source lauded the arrival of the new vessel and said it would effectively play the role of defender, in collaboration with other vessels such as the GNS Achimota, the GNS Yogaga, the GNS Anzoni, the GNS Dzata, the GNS Hanson, the GNS Bonsu, among others.
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