Ghana Navy Takes Delivery

The Ghana Navy yesterday took delivery of two ex-German Navy fast attack craft, GNS Yaa Asantewaa and GNS Naa Gbewaa, at its Sekondi Naval Base.

Rear Admiral Matthew Quashie, the Chief of Naval Staff who received the two vessels, said their crews spent 28 days sailing to France, Spain, Portugal, Senegal, Liberia and Ghana. The Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Commodore Timothy Samuel Appiah, said the crew (including 14 officers and 56 ratings) had spent three months of intensive training in Germany before their expedition to Ghana, reports the Ghana News Agency.

The ships were handed over to the Navy during a ceremony held at Neue Tadewerft, Wilhelmshaven, Germany, early last month before sailing for their new home.

Quashi said that he was grateful the late president John Atta Mills had sourced the vessels for the Navy, which would use the vessels to check internal and external aggression. Ghana is paying attention to combating piracy and protecting its oil installations.

The GNS Yaa Asantewaa and GNS Naa Gbewaa are Type 143A Gepard fast attack craft. In July 2010 Ghana announced the acquisition of the two decommissioned vessels, which are 58 metres long and weigh 398 tonnes. They were refurbished prior to being handed over.

In a statement last month Lieutenant-Colonel E Aggrey-Quashie, Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Directorate, said that the delivery of the fast attack craft brings the number of vessels acquired for the Ghana Navy to seven over the last three years.

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Article and image courtesy of Defence Web.

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