Suspected Pirates from the dreaded Niger Delta in Nigeria,in the early hours of last Thursday, kidnapped five crew members of a Ghanaian flagged fishing vessel Motor Vessel (MV) Atlantic Princess 70 nautical miles south of Tema.
The Chronicle is reliably informed that till date, there has not been any indication to the Ghana Navy, Security agencies or the company, African Star, as to the whereabouts of the captives.
The Chronicle gathered from maritime and naval sources that MV Atlantic Princess, owned by African Star, was on a fishing expedition in the Gulf of Guinea on Wednesday May 19, 2021 off the coast of Tema and spotted an old oil tanker, which came to anchor nearby.
It is a common knowledge by seafarers that pirates operate under the guise of mother ship, which carries smaller high speeding crafts that are deployed to attack targets by surprise.
Aware of this, the Ghanaian registered fishing vessel shifted position.However, MV Atlantic Princess crew failed to post a lookout personnel.
The armed gang gained access to the vessel, sorted the expatriate crew from the Ghanaian counterparts, took the former in their skiffs and at top speed chartered course eastwards on the open sea.
Meanwhile the armed gangsters disconnected all the communication systems on board the orphaned vessel.
The Gulf of Guinea Zone ‘F’ of the Multinational Maritime Coordinating Center comprising Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana, meant to share information among seafarers did exactly its mandated duty.
In the heat of last year’s surge in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, the European Union (EU) adopted a country by country deployment of naval fleet to protect its interest in the region.
One of such ship’s helicopter, which was nearby spotted skiff at top speed, but too late for it to intercept as they entered the Niger Delta creeks, though photographs were taken before finally escaping to their strongholds.
Another fishing vessel in the geographical area went to the aid of the subdued vessel and on their way back ashore, met Ghana Navy Ship (GNS) GARINGA, which was responding to the message about the distressed Ghanaian registered fishing vessel.The patrol boat shepherded her to the Tema Fishing Harbour.
Last year, at the peak of attacks on vessels in our waters, the Government of Ghana utilised the combined services of the Ghana Navy and Airforce for patrols in our territorial waters, which they managed to discharge to perfection.
However, there is an impediment the collaboration is faced with – the absence of transponders for the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) positioned on shore in Tema.
The VMS locates and monitors all the country’s registered fishing vessels around the globe in the event of pirate attacks, drug/human trafficking and illegal trans-shipment of catches.
The new transponders cost Euro 17,000.00 (Seventeen thousand Euros), but the authorities failed to make replacement and did not enable the VMS to function close to two years now.
A functioning VMS allows automatic touch with base ashore and instant action from the navies dotted at sea.
When The Chronicle contacted the Fisheries Commission, a highly placed source at the commission hinted the paper that it is yet to receive the green light from the Attorney General to renew the contract with the service providers which has expired.
The post Dreaded Niger Delta Gangs Attack Ghanaian Vessel appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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