According to Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu, the Chief of Naval Staff, no violent attacks or kidnappings of ships have taken place in the country's waterways in the last two years.
Thus, he criticized a report from the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center (IMB PRC) from last year as being wholly false and deceptive and portraying Ghana as the nation with the largest number of pirate incidences worldwide.
The reply was delivered by Rear Admiral Yakubu last Friday in Accra at a ceremony when he was presented with two brand-new Mitsubishi Pajero cars from the Danish government to aid in the growth of the Special Boat Squadron of the Ghana Navy.
The gift is a component of the Danish Maritime Security Plan, which aims to strengthen regional research, capacity building, and stakeholder gathering in order to prevent violent attacks on or kidnappings of ships in the country's waterways in the last two years.
Thus, he criticized a report from the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center (IMB PRC) from last year as being wholly false and deceptive and portraying Ghana as the nation with the largest number of pirate incidences worldwide.
The reply was delivered by Rear Admiral Yakubu last Friday in Accra at a ceremony when he was presented with two brand-new Mitsubishi Pajero cars from the Danish government to aid in the growth of the Special Boat Squadron of the Ghana Navy.
A state might respond to a pirate occurrence everywhere it happened on the high seas since, according to the UNCLOS definition of piracy, it is a crime with universal jurisdiction.
According to the Chief of Naval Staff, it is the duty of every ship to maintain an adequate watch so that pirates cannot get aboard to take trinkets and then escape undetected.
He said that the majority of the vessels decided to report such accidents to their parent firms offshore rather than to the local authorities when they occurred, which prevented local authorities from responding quickly to the occurrences.
While acknowledging that Ghana could do more to increase security at ports and anchorages, he insisted that vessel crews must take full responsibility for what occurs inside their boats, where law enforcement officials are unable to intervene, especially when there is no violence or threat of violence.
He added, "It's like leaving your front door open and accusing the cops of breaking in to take your stuff."
IMB's report
Ghana and Angola topped the list of nations reporting pirate events in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the 2022 report.
The information showed that Takoradi and Luanda anchorages were both listed on the IMB PRC's list of international ports with three or more recorded incidences of piracy. More than two-thirds of the incidents of piracy in 2022 took place when ships were moored or berthed.
According to the IMB PRC, Ghana had the greatest percentage of incidences (33), while Angola scored 24%.
Nonetheless, the study noted that the enhanced navy vessel presence and coastal authorities' collaboration in the Gulf of Guinea continued to have a favorable influence on the reported piratical actions in Africa.
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