Navy calls for upgrading of its fleet of ships and boats

Kumasi, Oct 27, GNA - The Ghana Navy has appealed for the upgrading of its fleet of combat ships and patrol boats for effective protection of the country's territorial waters. Naval Captain Francis Kwesi Eshun, Assistant Director in-charge of Defence Intelligence of the Ghana Armed Forces, (GAF) said with the discovery of oil and increasing crime rate on the seas the burden on the Navy has soared. The Navy is faced with a major challenge to safeguard maritime resources and combat drug trafficking.

Presently, it has four war ships and two patrol boats and this, he said, is inadequate given the size of Ghana's territorial sea of about 6,400 square nautical area. Naval Captain Eshun was interacting with students drawn from basic, second cycle and tertiary institutions in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, as part of activities marking the Navy's Golden Jubilee anniversary. It was meant to give the public insight into the role the Naval=

Force plays in the defence of the country. He said in its 50 years of existence, it has performed well. The= re has been no sea-borne invasion. He noted that the drilling of Ghana's oil could make the countr= y attractive to pirates, and the Navy, therefore, needed to be sufficiently=

resourced to deal with the security threat. Naval Captain Eshun asked that the nation re-visit Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's vision of building a buoyant maritime industry by involving research institutions and co-operate bodies to activate the Tema Ship Yar= d so that Ghana would be in a position to build its own vessels. He also called for more work to be done to complete the Sekondi Shipway Project to facilitate docking of commercial vessels to enhance business activities. Meanwhile, the Navy has donated food items worth GH¢1500 to the Christ= the King Orphanage at Boadi towards the upkeep of the children there. These were made up of a bag each of rice, gari and sugar, two cartons of=

cream milk, loaves of bread, large quantity of toilet rolls and soft drin= ks. v