Maritime Authority deploys search, rescue boat at Kpando-Torkor
The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has deployed a search and rescue vessel, MV A. Martey Korley, on Volta Lake at Kpando-Torkor in the Volta Region to enhance safety on the water body.
The acting Head of GMA, Emmanuel Tukpeyi, presented the key of the 150-capacity boat to the Kpando Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) at a ceremony in the riverine community last week Wednesday.
Mr Tukpeyi said the choice of Kpando-Torkor for the deployment of the vessel was due to its strategic location along the lake, especially along the route between Kpando-Torkor and Akosombo in the Eastern Region.
“From our research, we found out that boat accidents often occurred around the crossing area here (Kpando-Torkor),” he stated.
He said safety on the lake was also crucial for the government’s 24-Hour Economy initiative.
That would also boost productivity and livelihoods in communities along the lake, the acting Head of GMA added.
Emergency response
The vessel, he said, would definitely facilitate prompt and efficient emergency response to emergencies on the lake.
Rescue boat, MV A. Martey Korley
The MCE, Kilian Donkor, expressed gratitude to the GMA, saying the gesture was re-assuring of the authority’s commitment to the welfare of travellers on the lake.
He cautioned the operating crew on the rescue boat to perform their duties diligently, and not to use the vessel for commercial purposes.
“As far as I am concerned, the vessel is for rescue purposes; so, I would like to urge members of the navy detachment at Kpando-Torkor to ensure it is not used for any other activity apart from the purpose for which it was brought here,” Mr Donkor added.
He pledged the assembly’s commitment to working with GMA to ensure there was safety on the lake all the time.
Relief
The assembly member for the area, Joshua Phil Amenyogbe, recalled how canoes with no rescue equipment were used in the past for rescue operations on the lake, saying the newly-deployed vessel was great cause for relief and joy.
Present at the ceremony were the traditional rulers of the community.
The 16-knot MV Martey Korley can travel 18 nautical miles an hour and rescue 100 people simultaneously.
The first vessel, the first of its kind to be deployed in the enclave, would be operated by a detachment of the Ghana Navy.
More than one million passengers and huge volumes of food stuffs are transported from Kpando-Torkor to Akosombo in the Eastern Region, and its environs annually.
