The Ghana Navy and the Marine and Railways Unit of the Ghana Police Service have assured the public of continued service to safeguarding the port space and Ghana’s territorial waters.
The assurance was given when the Flag Officer in charge of the Eastern Naval Command, Commodore James Kontoh and the Commander of the Marine, Port and Railways Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Joseph Ababio participated in Eye on Port’s live broadcast on national television, that seeks to bring port and maritime activities more closely to the public.
According to Commodore James Kontoh, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command, said, the navy, is an arm of the Ghana Armed Forces, mandated to keep a presence on our seas to prevent the country from potential security threats.
He said, this is done by monitoring, patrolling, and the use of intelligence by technical collaborations with other security agencies that operate within the marine space.
“Previously, every activity was just limited to the port and the anchorage area that prevented us from seeing very far, so there is a huge drive to make sure that at least we are not completely sea blind, we maybe a little bit foggy but we should be able to see and go further.
So, we are applying all sorts of means in terms of both electronic and surveillances to make sure that we are able to police the sea,” he revealed.
Commodore Kontoh added that, collaborations exist between the Ghanaian navy and the navies of neighboring countries on the Gulf of Guinea, to combat the epidemic of piracy and robbery on sea that has bedeviled the area.
“We are showing presence out there at sea, making sure that we have vessels which are on patrol. And like I said, we have electronic surveillance systems at our Maritime Operation Centers, which are able to give us a lot of information as to what is going on out there. There is also a lot of collaboration with other stakeholders like the marine police and our neighboring countries. For instance, the Gulf of Guinea area has been divided into maritime zones, for us to easily share information pertaining to what is going on,” he shared.
The high rank navy official addressing the key to Ghana possessing a safe marine territory, attributed the success to all other security agencies who help the navy guard our waters, describing them as up-to-task.