Hijacked vessel finally berths at Takoradi Port
A Greek oil vessel, the MT Fair Artemis, that was hijacked by pirates off Ghana’s waters in June this year has finally docked at the Takoradi Port to offload oil.
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The pirates siphoned 3,700 metric tonnes of marine gas oil from the vessel into their ship but were arrested by security officials in Benin when they tried selling the product there.
The Director of the Takoradi Port, Captain James Owusu-Koranteng, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the oil tanker had already sailed into the country at least three times under the captainship of Kiriatis Dimitris, since it was rescued.
In early June this year, the Greek oil vessel which was chartered by Endofa Limited, an America-based company, to supply marine gas oil, was docked at the anchorages in West Africa.
The MT Fair Artemis was confirmed missing by Mr Noel Choong, the Head of International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre based in Kuala Lumpur in June this year, after the master of the ship called the Tema Port to announce the hijacking of the vessel by pirates.
Anti piracy
“We are taking measures to ensure that our territorial waters are safe for the vessels that come in to carry out various services,” Captain Owusu-Koranteng said.
He said the port was in the process of acquiring two security boats at a cost of 4.4 million euros for 24-hour patrols on the sea.
The port authorities, he said, were working closely with other security agencies, such as the Navy and the Marine Police, to ensure that maximum security was provided offshore.
“Currently, the country has one of the safest territorial waters in the West African sub-region and we do not wish to allow pirates to take that away from us,” he stated.
Subsea Seven
Meanwhile, Subsea Seven, an engineering, construction and services company, has undertaken sod-cutting for the construction of a US$20-million fabrication yard at the port.
The move is aimed at further developing the growing oil and gas industry by providing technological support locally.
The investment by Subsea Seven, a Luxembourg registered company headquartered in London, will produce Christmas Trees and other oil drilling equipment purposely for the TEN Project at the port.
Unlike situation with the Jubilee field, the jubilee partners are committed to locally producing most of the heavy duty equipment that would be used for the TEN Project.