The Danish Defence Attache (DA) to Ghana, Lt Col Lasse Sand, has paid a courtesy call on the Acting Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command (WNC) Commodore Bright Atiayao on Tuesday 21 June, 2022.
Commodore Atiayao warmly received the DA in his office and in his remarks, expressed his delight for the DAs visit and hoped it will strengthen the bond between the Armed Forces of the two countries. He noted that the Western Naval Command was a strategic asset with great potentials and always ready for any joint collaboration in terms of maritime training and security.
He explained the responsibilities of WNC and indicated that, they also work collaboratively with civil authorities and offer the necessary assistance when needed. He stated that illegal maritime activities such illegal bunkering, robberies at sea among others were issues the Command was battling with, but praised the Government of Ghana for retooling the Ghana Navy to deal with such issues swiftly. He noted that Ghana was non-aligned to any specific country and was therefore ready to work and cooperate with any country as far as maritime safety and security were concerned
On his part the DA, Lt Col Sand noted that maritime security remained a priority on the list of the Danish Ministry of Defence. He also mentioned the Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) which is an EU initiative, and averred that, they will soon participate in EU missions which will ensure their continuous maritime presence and outreach in designated maritime areas of interest. He noted that Denmark was ready to collaborate with Ghana in the area of maritime security among others.
Commodore Atiayao took the DA on a tour of the Base where they visited the School of Maritime Engineering and Combat Systems (SMECS), Ghana Navy Ship (GNS) Densu which was one of the new ships acquired for the Ghana Navy by the Government of Ghana. At the Naval Dockyard, the DA had an interaction with the NAVDOCK Superintendent, Commodore Emmanuel Wayoe and also toured the Engineering departments and the Naval Dockyard slipway.
The DA was accompanied by the Director Naval Training, Naval Captain Dennis KA Eghan, two Officers from the Danish Special Operations Command, Major Michael Sonne and Capt Bertram Hansen.
