The €84-million Elmina Fishing Harbour with berthing space for deep marine access for a fleet of fishing boats, has received its first cruise ship, ‘SH Vega.’

Named after the first ship to cross the Arctic Northeast Passage, SH Vega was designed to journey to far-away places and remote polar regions in style and comfort.

Built in Finland’s famous Helsinki Shipyard, SH Vega was made for wonderful cruising experiences.

It has welcoming spaces to relax on board, unobstructed views throughout the ship, and world-class restaurants, staterooms and amenities meant for sailing pleasure.

On board the 280-passenger capacity historic ship was 115 revellers, made up of 106 passengers and nine crew members.

The vessel dropped its anchor in the Elmina waters, about 8.8 cables away from the port’s main breakwater.

It then lowered its Zodiac (inflatable boats) into the water before carefully disembarking the 115 passengers and crew members into the zodiac in safe batches to the shores of the ancient town to catch a glimpse of its historic landscape.

The nationalities of the passengers aboard the cruise vessel include Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Russia, and Nigeria.

The vessel had previously sailed to some ports including Angola, Benin, Congo, Gabon, Togo, and São Tomé.

The tourists toured the Elmina Castle and its township, the Batik-making centre at Global Mamas all in Elmina, the Kakum National Park, and the Cape Castle.

They also enjoyed some traditional drumming and dance lessons with splendid performances, alongside Ghanaian and continental delicacies.

Ghana is considered one of the favourite destinations of cruise passengers worldwide, with Tema and Takoradi being the traditional port of call.

With this maiden call by SH Vega, however, the Elmina fishing Harbour which was primarily built by the government to assist fisher folks in their fishing activities, has now assumed a dual port role of being both a fishing port and a cruise destination.

Mr Peter Amos-Bediako, the Director of Port, at a short ceremony, lauded the Government for the construction of the facility.

The visit of SH Vega at the Elmina Fishing Harbour presented endless opportunities for the Port to promote local and international tourism.

“It’s a great day in the annals of Ghana’s tourism and maritime sectors,” he said and thanked the various institutions for making the journey a success.

Mr Solomon Appiah, Municipal Chief Executive for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem was optimistic that the local economy of Elmina and its environs would be positively affected by this historical achievement.