The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, along with Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Thomas Kofi Alonsi, and Director-General Andreas Nordseth from the Danish Maritime Authority, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a three-year collaboration.
The contract was also signed by the Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs. The third phase of the Strategic Sector Cooperation in Maritime will focus on the following thematic areas:
- Enhancing navigational safety on Lake Volta through the use of digital infrastructure to support presentation of danger areas on Lake Volta
- Compliance to international standards on commercial fishing
- Capacity development of Ghanaian pilots and tugboat masters in Port Tema to further optimise daily operations and public-private collaboration
- Contributing to green transition in the maritime industry by aiding Ghana’s green agenda and making Port Tema a recognised Green Port and the preferred transhipment hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
These are in furtherance of the Letter of Intent signed between the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, and the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Accra on 24 November, 2021.
Both countries committed to enhancing collaboration on maritime safety and compliance with international standards, as well as ensuring a greater focus on the use of environmentally sustainable solutions. Again, both countries pledged to working on the Zero Emission Shipping goal with the objective of ensuring that ships capable of running on zero-emission fuels make up at least 5 percent of the global deep-sea fleet by 2030.
“Our objective is to promote sustainability, green growth and enhancement of the Ghana maritime sector through our world-class Danish solutions,” Andreas Nordseth, Director-General of the Danish Maritime Authority said during the signing ceremony.
“This collaboration is enhancing the GMA’s work, adding to our continuous effort of making Port Tema the best in West and Central Africa while ensuring safety of navigation on Lake Volta and at sea,” added Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Thomas Kofi Alonsi.
“The project complements Denmark’s broad maritime agenda of promoting safe and secure maritime domain awareness in West Africa, which will translate into a more efficient sea-borne trade,” added Tom Nørring, Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana.
For the thematic area concerning enhancing navigational safety on Lake Volta, the Danish Geodata Agency will support as a subcontractor and utilise the newest technologies at sea and data from satellites.
“At the Danish Geodata Agency, we strive to use new technologies and data-driven workflows to improve the safety of navigation at sea. These can be essential tools in order to map navigational hazards on Lake Volta, and we are therefore happy to support this maritime collaboration,” Pia Dahl Højgaard, Director-General of the Danish Geodata Agency noted.
