The Executive Director of the Fisheries Commission, Prof Benjamin B. Campion has announced that the missing seven crew members of a fishing canoe from Sekondi (Second Chance) have been located and rescued at sea.
Their canoe had reportedly suffered an engine failure and drifted into Togolese waters, leaving them stranded for 12 days at sea, running out of food and water.
The seven crew members set sail on October 9, 2026, and for 12 days, they were lost at sea and stranded.
In a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Joy FM on Wednesday evening (October 21), the Executive Secretary of the Fisheries Commission, said they have been found in good health and were being transported to land by the neighbouring country officials.
"I, the Executive Director has not spoken with them directly, but I have been coordinating with the boat owner (from Sekondi), and he has spoken with them directly. They've been in touch with the French authorities, [but] because of language barrier, we are not yet sure which of the French authorities whether Benin or Togo, but they are being brought to shore and then they will now come by land after examination of their health condition," he said.
Asked if they were safe, Prof Campion said, "for now they are very safe. Our major concern was their health and safety because they had run out of resources, but now they are okay, they have been given food, water and therefore we are just waiting for them to get on land."
He said because they were in a different environment, they were having network issues, that is why they have not been able to communicate with them properly.
According to a police statement issued on October 20, it was the owner of the canoe, Nana Kweku Atta, who reported at the Fishing Harbour Police Station in Sekondi on October 18 that the canoe departed the Sekondi Fishing Harbour on October 9, 2026, for a fishing expedition offshore Axim but had not returned.
Preliminary investigations indicated that repeated initial attempts to contact the crew were unsuccessful.
A subsequent update suggested that the canoe might have suffered engine failure and drifted towards Tema and the Volta coast to more than 120 nautical miles.
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