The Chief of Defense Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama says the Ghana Navy is in dire need of ultra-modern boats for effective rescue operations and protection of the country’s territorial waters.
He said such boats can even help in rescue missions in times of disasters like the recent flooding situation in parts of the country due to the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.
Vice Admiral Amoama made the appeal when McHammah Engineering Company Limited donated an ultra-modern Catamaran Boat to the Ghana Navy at a ceremony in Accra.
In previous years, personnel from the Ghana Navy were compelled to use wooden amphibious canoes for their operations, especially during search and rescue missions. This, according to reports, led to accidents and loss of lives on waters.
The banning of these canoes has, however, brought a deficit to the navy in terms of boats for aquatic operations. The donation of the Catamaran Boat by the McHammah Engineering Company Limited to the Navy is seen as the beginning of various support systems to enhance the work of the Ghana Navy.
The Chief of Defense Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama said the gesture by the engineering company calls for more training of naval personnel in engineering and technical works so they can also build such boats for themselves. He called for deeper collaboration between the security services and the private sector in making this happen.
The Catamaran Boat was manufactured by McHammah Company in Ghana using Ghanaian raw materials which the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ing. Dr. Ebenezer Kakra Hammah said is an indication that the manufacturing sector of Ghana’s economy can develop, if the nation gives it the needed attention.
Naval personnel present at the ceremony agreed unanimously that training of their personnel in manufacturing of such boats on a large scale can go a long way to effectively help the navy perform its duties in protecting Ghana’s territorial waters.