President John Evans Atta Mills has assured the nation that the fight against illegalities in the maritime domain will not be concentrated around the recently found oil off west Cape Three Points in the Western Region but will cover all illegalities offshore.
He said criminals who were involved in all manner of activities which cost the country millions of cedis should not think that the country’s attention would be shifted to the oil fields for them to have relief to continue their nefarious activities offshore.
He acknowledged that the “the new resource has changed our maritime security landscape considerably. We are already grappling with illegal fishing activities, smuggling and trafficking of narcotics which cost the country several millions of dollars a year”.
The President said this in a speech read on his behalf at a ceremony to inaugurate a new vessel, the GNS Stephen Otu, at the home port of the Western Naval Command.
The vessel has a length of 33.1 metres, breadth of 6.92 metres and draft of 2.38 metres, with a speed of 35 knots, making it versatile for many tasks.
President Mills said with the oil find, “new challenges such as the risk of spillage, increase in shipping off our coast and the possibility of accidents cannot be ruled out, while criminal activities at sea are likely to increase”.
He advised miscreants in society who were bent on derailing the efforts by the government to make Ghana an icon of stability, peace and transparency in the sub-region to stop their activities before the law caught up with them.
He said since the oil resource was very crucial to the country’s development agenda, there was the need for measures to safeguard it by resourcing the Ghana Navy.
President Mills said the time had come for the Navy to be equipped and gave the assurance that by the end of this year two new crafts of 600 metres would be delivered to the Ghana Navy for commissioning into service next year.
He assured the Navy of the government’s support to re-equip it to deliver and commended the personnel for excellent work in the face of limited resources.
For his part, the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Matthew Quarshie, said the procurement of the vessel was timely, adding that it was the dream of the Ghana Navy to stay at sea to perform its functions.
The Korean Envoy to Ghana, Mr Lee Sang-hak, said the friendship between the two countries would work for the benefit of the two.
He said the vessel was one of the best in the fleet of the Korean Navy and gave its original name as “Kamzori”, meaning See Evil, and expressed the hope that it would support Ghana to fight maritime crime.
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