2,000 Ghanaian seafarers to work on Danish ships
Two thousand Ghanaian seafarers are to work on Danish ships under an agreement signed between Ghana and Denmark.
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The Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Rev Dr Peter Issaka Azuma, initialled for Ghana, while the Director General of Danish Maritime, Mr Andreas Nordseth, signed for Denmark. The agreement was signed in late 2015.
Under the agreement, Denmark is expected to provide technical support to the Ghana maritime industry and train seafarers from Ghana.
The number of Ghanaian seafarers to work on Danish ships is expected to increase later.
Expectation
Interacting with the media in Accra yesterday, Rev Dr Azuma said the GMA, under the agreement, was aiming at securing the employment for more Ghanaian seafarers annually by Danish ships.
That, he said, was because “about 1.5 million seafarers from sister West African countries who come to Ghana to obtain our certificates are employed by Danish vessels. Though they are not Ghanaians they are employed because they obtained their certificates from the Regional Maritime University in Ghana and also wrote professional examinations”.
Currently, Dr Azuma said, there were 4,000 unemployed seafarers in Ghana and expressed optimism that they would all secure jobs as a result of the bilateral agreement between Ghana and Denmark.
He explained that there were many unemployed seafarers because Ghana did not have commercial ships.
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Dr Azuma said the signing of the agreement marked a positive development by the authority towards alleviating the unemployment difficulties of Ghanaian seafarers, considering the fact that Denmark was a leading ship-owning country with huge employment opportunities on its flagships.
“The aim is to promote the engagement of Ghanaian seafarers on board Danish vessels and also to source Danish assistance in developing the maritime industry,” he added.
Recognition of certificates
Dr Azuma expressed the hope that the agreement, which offers a platform for the mutual recognition of seafarer certificates between Ghana and Denmark, would encourage Ghanaian seafarers and ship manning agencies to take advantage and access the Danish maritime labour market.
“Ghana is one of the best and first country to obtain accreditation for training and certification of seafarers. Denmark is a major shipping nation. It has more than 2,000 large deep sea goings and more than 3,000 fishing vessels,” he said.
By the agreement, Dr Azuma said it was now a government policy that all ships flying the flags of Denmark were encouraged to employ Ghanaian seafarers who met the standard of certification and had good conduct and behaviour.
Dr Azuma said “Ghanaian seafarers have always conducted themselves very well and there is no way they will let the country down. Moreover they would be taken through training as part of the recruitment process”.
The Danish Business and Growth Minister, Mr Troels Lund Poulsen, is reported to have said after signing the agreement that “there is massive potential for Danish maritime companies in West Africa. I am pleased to be strengthening co-operation with Ghana by creating an even better platform for Danish maritime companies operating in West Africa”.