Denmark gives 2 SUVs to Ghana Navy special Boat Squandron

Ghana Navy (GN) has taken custody of two (2) brand new Mitsubishi Pajero Sport utility vehicles, donated by the Embassy of Denmark, Accra, to support the development of the Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron (GNSBS), as part of the broader Danish Maritime Security Program (DMSP) in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

The donation was made by the Danish Ambassador to Ghana – His Excellency (HE) Tom Norring, and were received by Ghana’s Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) – Rear Admiral (R/Adm) Issah Adam Yakubu, on Friday 14 April, 2023, at the Forecourt of the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp, Accra.

In a speech after the presentation, the CNS said, about 2 years ago, the GN, the Danish Naval Special Warfare Group – commonly known as the Frogman Corps, and the United States African Command (USAFRICOMM), formed a tri-lateral partnership, to develop the GNSBS to an elite force, well trained and equipped, to conduct all kinds of maritime interdictions and specialized operations.

Admiral Yakubu said developing and sustaining a specialised force in GN has become very necessary, due to the increasing economic activities in Ghana’s maritime domain, and its accompanying dynamics, involving complex and asymmetric maritime security challenges.

The donation of the vehicles, R/Adm IA Yakubu said, is just one of the numerous supports that the Special Boat Squadron has received from the Danish Government over the last 2 years. Further on, a tri-lateral partners’ meeting in Denmark, developed a 5-year plan for the GNSBS, from 2022 to 2026.

He further said a maiden Special Boat Squadron Basic Operative Capability Course has been successfully conducted at GN’s Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) in 2022, with the Frogman Corps supporting the training with human resource, and the necessary logistics support. The second course is currently in session, at the time of press.

To further improve the logistics support towards the 5-year Development Plan, the Danish Government took a decision to relocate pre-fabricated office and residential accommodations mobile camp from Mali to NAVTRAC, to serve as the Special Boat Squadron training camp, which have since been assembled, and will be unveiled later, together with other donations from USAFRICOMM, and the construction of a Full Mission Bridge Simulator, the CNS said.

Ambassador Tom Norring, taking his turn, said the purchase of the cars was a joint idea that has been discussed between GN and the Danish Government – both on strategic and operational/tactical levels. He said there are Danish instructors in Ghana who are developing the skills of the GNSBS, and they keep renting cars at a high cost to the Government.

He said 2022 showed that a lot was spent on rented cars when supporting the basic operative course of the GNSBS, thus occasioning the idea to purchase cars with Danish project money and supplement it with drivers from GN, with direct benefits to Ghana and maritime security in the region, at large.

Ghana Navy (GN) has taken custody of two (2) brand new Mitsubishi Pajero Sport utility vehicles, donated by the Embassy of Denmark, Accra, to support the development of the Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron (GNSBS), as part of the broader Danish Maritime Security Program (DMSP) in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

The donation was made by the Danish Ambassador to Ghana – His Excellency (HE) Tom Norring, and were received by Ghana’s Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) – Rear Admiral (R/Adm) Issah Adam Yakubu, on Friday 14 April, 2023, at the Forecourt of the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp, Accra.

In a speech after the presentation, the CNS said, about 2 years ago, the GN, the Danish Naval Special Warfare Group – commonly known as the Frogman Corps, and the United States African Command (USAFRICOMM), formed a tri-lateral partnership, to develop the GNSBS to an elite force, well trained and equipped, to conduct all kinds of maritime interdictions and specialized operations.

Admiral Yakubu said developing and sustaining a specialised force in GN has become very necessary, due to the increasing economic activities in Ghana’s maritime domain, and its accompanying dynamics, involving complex and asymmetric maritime security challenges.

The donation of the vehicles, R/Adm IA Yakubu said, is just one of the numerous supports that the Special Boat Squadron has received from the Danish Government over the last 2 years. Further on, a tri-lateral partners’ meeting in Denmark, developed a 5-year plan for the GNSBS, from 2022 to 2026.

He further said a maiden Special Boat Squadron Basic Operative Capability Course has been successfully conducted at GN’s Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) in 2022, with the Frogman Corps supporting the training with human resource, and the necessary logistics support. The second course is currently in session, at the time of press.

To further improve the logistics support towards the 5-year Development Plan, the Danish Government took a decision to relocate pre-fabricated office and residential accommodations mobile camp from Mali to NAVTRAC, to serve as the Special Boat Squadron training camp, which have since been assembled, and will be unveiled later, together with other donations from USAFRICOMM, and the construction of a Full Mission Bridge Simulator, the CNS said.

Ambassador Tom Norring, taking his turn, said the purchase of the cars was a joint idea that has been discussed between GN and the Danish Government – both on strategic and operational/tactical levels. He said there are Danish instructors in Ghana who are developing the skills of the GNSBS, and they keep renting cars at a high cost to the Government.

He said 2022 showed that a lot was spent on rented cars when supporting the basic operative course of the GNSBS, thus occasioning the idea to purchase cars with Danish project money and supplement it with drivers from GN, with direct benefits to Ghana and maritime security in the region, at large.

He continued that the Danish Maritime Security Programme, which focuses on peace and security and on military and non-military cooperation of all actors in the field, started with Nigeria, roped in Ghana and is now scoping Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Cameroon. The program is substantially expanding from piracy to other maritime crimes such as drugs, weapons and human trafficking, and unreported unregulated illegal fishing (UUI).

He said Denmark also has interest in the GoG such that, about 40 Danish owned or flagged large merchants’ shipping fleet sail in the GoG, and about 30% of all shipping in the GoG is Danish operated, owned or flagged.

The Ambassador furthered that, safe waters in the GoG affect all the countries through goods that are transported via international shipping across the oceans, and that if they are not transported safely to the ports, then there would be increased cost on the goods, having enormous impacts on the economies of the states in the region.

Emphasising the importance of awareness building in the general populace, in the quest to popularize the DMSP, HE Norring said Denmark is collaborating with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), to rope in the media from Ghana, and also from other countries in the GoG, as they can better educate the populace, to know what the program is all about.

Dignitaries present included Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Administration and Logistics, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces – Air Vice Marshal Michael Appiah-Agyekum and Major General Joseph Prince Osei-Owusu, respectively, Chief Staff Officer, Navy – Commodore Prosper Modey, Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Force Training Command – Air Commodore Yaw Cole, Director Naval Training – Captain (GN) Dennis Fiifi Eghan, Defence Attache, Danish Embassy – Colonel (Col) Lasse Sand, Senior Officers, Officers, Coxswain, Ratings and Defence Civilian Staff.