hief of Defence Staff addresses issue of Maritime Crime
Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has urged the Ghana Navy and its corresponding allies across the sub-region to cooperate and share information to address crime and insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
Addressing this issue on the closing ceremony of Obangame Express 2021 (OE21) exercise in Accra, the CDS said the number of vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea had increased in recent times with a corresponding increase in maritime incidents.
The Obangame Express 2021 is a routine exercise facilitated by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness, information sharing practices and tactical interdiction expertise to enhance the collective capabilities of participating nations to counter sea based illicit activities.
Vice Admiral Amoama stated that regulatory and law enforcement agencies were under pressure to mitigate those problems which included illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, piracy and armed robbery, human and drug trafficking as well as transport of illegal goods at sea.
He said such crimes could not be addressed by any single nation and encouraged interoperability and cooperation among maritime stakeholders and effective maritime information sharing to curb the menace.
“Indeed, these are complex transnational crimes, which cannot be addressed by any single nation alone” he added “For those of us in sub region, therefore, our concern is not only preventing the threats in the Gulf of Guinea but rather empowering our law enforcement agencies by equipping them with the requisite capacity and capabilities to effectively deal with the threats”.
Maritime crime are one of the series of criminal activities being faced by the naval department. These kinds of crimes perpetrated at sea are directed at vessels or maritime structures such as piracy and sea robbery, trafficking and smuggling of people and goods, illegal fishing and unauthorised entrance of states internal waters as well as dumping and pollution. In West and Central Africa, and particularly in the Gulf of Guinea which is home to some of the biggest offshore oilfields in the world, maritime crime involves the hijacking of petrochemical tankers and attacks on other oil and petroleum storage and transportation platforms.
The number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea increases annually. Assessment and fact-finding missions by the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the region determine that no State bordering the Gulf of Guinea possess the necessary combination of jurisdictional provisions, offence-creating legislation and judicial capacity needed to undertake prosecutions against piracy. This has resulted in the increase of maritime crimes in these parts of the Gulf.
