The Ghana Navy has said it, on Monday, 11 October 2021, at about 0200 hours, “successfully warded off pirates onboard two speed boats who suspiciously approached a Tuna vessel by name AFKO 805 operating 105 nautical miles south of Aflao” in the Volta Region.

A statement issued on Wednesday, 13 October 2021, signed by Commander Andy La-Anyane, Acting Director of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, said the operation “ended without any casualty to the vessel and its crew”.

“The vessel continues to be engaged in its lawful fishing activities”, the statement noted.

“The Ghana Navy, in recent times, has doubled its patrols at sea to curb the numerous piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea making our Exclusive Economic Zone one of the safest in the Region”, the statement said.

The armed forces noted that the piracy situation in the Gulf of Guinea has “created a sense of insecurity in the Region”.

In Ghana, however, the Navy said it has strived to maintain adequate security at sea “to enable a conducive maritime environment for national development”.

“Fishing vessels have often fallen prey to pirates within the Region”, the statement said.

“The Chief of the Naval Staff recently visited his counterparts in Nigeria, Benin and Togo as a way of seeking their cooperation to combat the regional menace”.

“Additionally, the Ghana Navy, in its quest to curb this menace, decided to deploy armed naval personnel on board fishing vessels in consultation with stakeholders in the industry all aimed at ensuring a safe and secured maritime environment for the smooth operations of fishing and commercial vessels”.

“The Ghana Navy, however, assures all vessels and their operators within our maritime domain of our eagerness to protect all those engaged in legal businesses and also accost all those engaged in illegalities”.

“The Navy, therefore, seeks the cooperation of all partners to enable the nation to achieve a safe maritime environment for national development”.