There was no collision between seecurity patrol boat and any fishing boat – GPHA clarifies

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has said was never a collision between the Security Patrol Boat and any fishing boat as has been circulated in the media.

This comes on the back of reports that 2 fishermen had died while fishing after the closed season.

Their canoe is reported to have been crashed by the vessel of some naval officers who were on patrol at the time.

The naval officers are said to have accused the fishermen of being intruders, in the process the canoe of the fishermen overturned.

The incident is reported to have occurred in the early hours of Thursday, July 27, 2023 resulting in the death of two fishermen.

Reacting to the incident in a statement issued on Thursday, 27 July 2023, the GPHA revealed that at about 0030HRS on Wednesday, 26 July 2023, the Port Control Station received a distress call from MV. “SEASPAN DUBAI, for assistance to ward off several fishing boats which had surrounded their vessel. The security patrol team which comprises of the Ghana Navy, Marine Police and GPHA Security timeously responded, cautioned, and asked the said fishing boats to leave.”

It further revealed that at 0118HRS MT. MARINA ‘M’ which was also at the “anchorage, also called the Port Control Station for assistance to ward off a suspicious looking fishing boat with about nine occupants. The team again responded by cautioning and directing the boat and its occupants to row out.”

However, on their way back, the Patrol Team chanced upon another set of fishermen who had cast their nets and were fishing within the terminal 3 basin, close to a container vessel. Their nets were therefore seized while the men were were cautioned and led out of the basin.

The GPHA noted that all patrol activities were halted at 0455HRS on Thursday 27 July 2023, “without any incident of collision whatsoever.”

The Fishing Harbour Police Unit, in a phone call announced the discovery of “2 dead bodies, which the fishermen had refused the police team to convey, with the assertion that, the 2 died as a result of a collision with a GPHA tugboat, an outright untruth.”

It stressed that: “Even though the fishermen are aware of the dangers of fishing within the port basin and anchorage, some continue to carry out these illegal activities at the peril of their own lives and that of vessels and cargo”, but despite these, infractions, on occasions where it arrests fishermen and “seize their nets, the Chief Fisherman and Elders are notified, and often the culprits are pardoned, and nets released without any fines.”

It added that the GPHA is a “responsible organisation involved in search and rescue missions and as such will not abandon victims of a collision even if it involved our own craft.”

Source: classfmonline.com