Ghana Navy to protect offshore oil fields

The Ghana Navy has signed an agreement with Tullow Ghana Limited for Ghanaian Navy vessels to provide security services at the Jubilee and Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme (TEN) oil fields off the country’s coastline.

Earlier this month the Ghana Navy received four Flex Fighter vessels from Penguin Shipyard in Singapore (GNS Volta, Densu, Pra and Ankobra), which were acquired to safeguard oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Guinea.

Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, officially received the vessels from the Vice President of Israel Shipyards, Oded Breier, on 10 January following their arrival at the Takoradi port on 8 January. Israel Shipyards is understood to have brokered the deal between Ghana and Penguin Shipyard.

The Daily Graphic reported that only Ghana Navy ships will be allowed to protect offshore oil and gas infrastructure in the country, displacing private security vessels, which have proliferated with the growth of piracy in the region.

The Ghana Armed Forces said the vessels, which have been acquired with funding from the Ghana Commercial Bank, will provide asset protection in the Exclusive Economic zone (EEZ) in the TEN and Jubilee fields. Tullow Ghana and the Jubilee partners will provide a total of a $23.5 million during the five-year contract period, which commenced on 1 January 2022 and will run until 31 December 2026.

Tullow Ghana Limited Deputy Managing Director, Cynthia Lumor, said “the Jubilee partners’ commitment to support the retooling of the Ghana Navy is mutually beneficial to both parties. This partnership will ensure the protection of the Ghanaian waters by providing security services in the TEN and Jubilee fields and along the coast of Ghana. We believe that this will further strengthen the relationship between the Tullow Ghana and the Ghana Navy”.

Yakubu commended the Jubilee partners for the collaboration, saying “Tullow Ghana and the Jubilee partners have demonstrated commitment to sustainable production by this collaboration. The Ghana Navy will ensure that we fulfil our contractual obligations to ensure a secured maritime space for the safe operation of the TEN and Jubilee fields”.

Source: Defence Web