The Ghana Navy has taken delivery of two brand-new Mitsubishi Pajero vehicles presented by the Royal Danish Government on Friday 14 April 2023 at the forecourt of the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp.
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Tom Norring, who presented the vehicles on behalf of the Danish Government, said the acquisition of the vehicles was a joint idea between the Ghana Navy and the Danish Government on the strategic and operational level to support the development of the Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron (GNSBS) as part of the Danish Maritime Security Programme (DMSP).
The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu who received the keys to the vehicles on behalf of the Ghana Navy, expressed his appreciation to the Danish Government for the unwavering support towards the Ghana Navy, as well as the fight against maritime security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The CNS said about 2 years ago, the Danish Naval Special Warfare Group commonly known as the Frogman Corps, the United States African Command and the Ghana Navy formed a tri-lateral partnership to develop the GNSBS to an elite force, well trained and equipped to conduct all kinds of maritime interdictions and specialized operations.
“I wish to put on record that this tri-lateral partnership has made tremendous strides since its inception. The donation of these vehicles to support the development of the project is just one of the numerous supports the Special Boat Squadron has received from the Danish Government over the last 2 years,” he added.
CNS underscored that developing and sustaining a specialized force in the Ghana Navy was prudent due to the increasing economic activities in the maritime domain and its accompanying dynamics, which involves complex and asymmetric maritime security challenges. He stressed that any collaborative effort to support the Navy to build a robust force capable of conducting all kinds of specialized operations at sea is in the right direction.
He further stated that the maiden Special Boat Squadron (SBS) Basic Operative Capability Course was successfully conducted at the Naval Training Command last year, with the Frogman Corps supporting the training with human resources and the necessary logistics. With this, he mentioned that the second course was currently in session and progressing steadily.
