Ghana Navy and Airforce Stop Pirate Attack

The Ghana Navy and Air Force have foiled an attempted pirate attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Takoradi.

The oil tanker vessel, MT Hafnia Phoenix, escaped the pirate attack some 72 nautical miles off the coast of Takoradi last Tuesday after undertaking a manoeuvre to outwit an armed gang of pirates.

The Denmark-flagged vessel, which was sailing from Lomé in Togo to Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, was attacked by the group of about 10 and riding in a skiff (river craft) carrying a ladder — known to be an essential tool that enables easy access into hijacking of vessels in sail.

the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Seth Amoama, said the pirates escaped narrowly as the navy and Air Force staged a joint operation to counter them.

He said although the military aircraft used for the exercise was able to locate the tanker vessel, the attackers managed to escape.

There was also another attempted attack last Saturday on a tuna vessel, Agnes 1, within Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Chief of Naval Staff said the navy and its stakeholders would step up their operations to ensure that the threat was dealt with within the zone.

He expressed confidence that a retooling project being undertaken by the government — aided by the adoption of technology — would enable the navy and its stakeholders to meet operational requirements of surveillance and detection, particularly when the criminals often changed their modus operandi.

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