The Chief of Defense Staff at the Ghana Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, has stated that the issue of Maritime security is very important and there must be an approach to deal with it.

He said if the challenges confronting the maritime sector if not curbed could harm trade and economic activities.

“The maritime security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea need to be considered as a whole because they are interrelated. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, smuggling of merchandise and weapons, human trafficking and the menace of piracy and armed robbery at sea adversely affect all the countries in the Gulf of Guinea and also the need for an integrated approach to fight these crimes. I must also add that these maritime security challenges threaten not only the economies of countries in the Gulf of Guinea but also global trade and economic security,” he said.

Speaking on what can be done to address these challenges, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama said enforcing sea laws could be the best approach.

“These could be addressed only when enforcement agencies have the requisite capacity and capabilities to deal with them. Exercise OBANGAME EXPRESS, thus, offers the platform to build these capabilities. The exercise continues to grow from strength to strength as has been demonstrated over the past years. I am therefore hopeful that the 2021 edition will even be more successful than the previous one’s,” he stated.

Exercise OBANGAME EXPRESS 2021 (OE) is an annual combined central and West African multinational maritime exercise in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). The exercise focuses on increased regional stakeholders cooperation’s as well as maritime safety and security. The exercise involves West and Central Africa navy and maritime stakeholders in partnership with the United States and Euro-Atlantic navies.

The 2021 edition, codenamed exercise OBANGAME EXPRESS 2021 (OE21) is being hosted by Ghana Navy from 14 – 27 March 2021, in collaboration with the United States Naval Forces, Africa (NAVAF).

The main objective of the exercise is to build the capacity of the Navies in the sub-region to maintain a safe and secured maritime environment for socio-economic developments.