Merchant vessels transiting the Ghana coast in the Gulf of Guinea have been cautioned to increase defences against piracy, amid increased activity of pirates off the coast of Ghana. A merchant ship was seen surrounded by three speedboats filled with armed pirates off the coast of Takoradi on March 8th.
A report by the International Bureau on Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships suggested that there were 11 separate pirate attacks between 2013 and 2017 off the country’s coast. Dr Kofi Mbia told local publication Graphic Business on March 15th that “we need to improve upon our surveillance and get the Ghana Navy to increase their patrol. You know the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) patrols the anchorage area of our ports and a lot of ships that want a safe haven come to our anchorage to get protection for some time but now that the spate of piracy has increased and their activities recorded on our coast, there is a need to increase the surveillance.”