NAVAL CHIEFS HOLD FORUM ON MARITIME SECURITY (SPREAD)

SENIOR naval officers have gathered in Takoradi for a forum with other stakeholders in the maritime industry to discuss challenges in the country’s maritime sector.
The key objectives of the five-day convention are the identification of the country’s maritime interests , other maritime security threats as well as the strengthening of existing stakeholder collaboration to identify new initiatives to enhance maritime security.
On the theme, “Enhancing maritime security in Ghana’s maritime domain for socio-economic development”, the convention will also deliberate on ways of resourcing and supporting the Ghana Navy to effectively perform its roles.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Deputy Minister for Defence, Mr William Ofori-Boafo, said the theme for the convention was very relevant in view of the current developments in the maritime environment.
These developments, he said, included the oil discovery offshore , the incidence of drug trafficking via the sea , illegal fishing, smuggling and piracy, which were on the ascendancy.
“It is both an essential element of our national security and an international obligation to ensure safety and security in our maritime and inland waters,”’ he emphasised.
Mr Ofori-Boafo said the challenges facing the Ghana Navy included inadequate ships, poor technical state of the ships, as well as logistics limitations such as spare parts and maintenance facilities.
These challenges, he said, were being given the due and urgent attention by the Ministry and the Ghana Armed Forces Command.
“I believe by the end of this convention, you would have identified Ghana’s maritime interest and key maritime threats,” he said. He urged the participants to come out with measures to strengthen existing stakeholder collaboration and identify new initiatives that would enhance maritime security.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral A. R. S. Nuno, identified the major challenges that militated against the achievement of safety and security in the maritime domain as transnational threats which had been on the ascendancy of late.
He said reports of drug trafficking in Ghana’s waters was a case in point, adding that the Navy was bracing up to meet the challenges that would emanate from the discovery of oil in the country’s waters.
Rear Admiral Nuno explained that unlike the land area where the government had a number of organisations, such as the Police, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, the Immigration Service, among others, that enforced law and other, the Navy remained the major government agency which enforced the laws of Ghana at sea.