The Ghana Navy has begun its old tradition of crossing the Equator to test the readiness of its ships and its territorial waters and maritime security known in naval terms as ‘Crossing The Line’ dubbed ‘Exercise Sea Lion 2024.’
The four-day sail of the two selected Ghana Navy Ships; (GNS) Volta and Ankobra in the company of a United States (US) navy ship, started from Tema on Tuesday, March 19th to Friday 22nd with a flagging-off ceremony at the Tema Habour to Sekondi covering a total distance of 650 nautical miles crossing the Equator.
The joint multinational exercise initiated by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), saw the ships traveling over a stretch of 340 nautical miles from Tema to the Equator to touch the Center of the Earth at longitude and latitude 0ᵒ at exactly 7:15am on Thursday, March 21, for the first leg of the journey and a 310 nautical miles from the Equator to Sekondi for the second leg of the journey arriving at 9:55am on Friday, March 22.
Addressing the flagging-off gathering at the Eastern Naval Command to sail the ships, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lt Gen Thomas Oppong-Peprah said the primary goal of the sea exercise is to assess the endurance and combat readiness of Navy ships and personnel.
According to him, the objective of the “Exercise Sea Lion 2024” apart from testing the endurance and combat readiness of the ships, was also to enhance maritime security, train personnel in fleet maneuvers and conduct a joint exercise between the three arms of the GAF.
He said it was also targeted at exercising the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) of the navy in counterterrorism and hostage rescue operations and the training of personnel of the Ghana Army Special Operations Brigade (GASOB) in amphibious landing operations.
Lt. Gen. Oppong-Peprah stressed that the joint nature of the exercise would help build interoperability among the arms of GAF for future operations and contemporary security threats such as piracy and terrorism in West African sub-region which required a robust, comprehensive, adequately equipped and well trained personnel to deal with such situations.
The CDS stated that the joint nature of the exercise would help build the interoperability for future operations so that contemporary security threats such as piracy and terrorism in the West African sub-region which required robust, comprehensive, adequately equipped, and well-trained personnel to deal with would be handled.
“The recent spate of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and other transnational crimes at sea has made it imperative for the Ghana Navy to test its operational readiness and resilience in confronting these criminals,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of the exercise to showcase Ghana as the country closest to the Center of the Earth, adding that it would unearth the tourism potential that can be harnessed from such voyages.
He commended the Ghana Navy for the laudable initiative, adding that such exercises were key to building the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Armed Forces at large.
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, said that the exercise will also showcase Ghana’s unique geographical position as the country closest to the Centre of the Earth.
He said the event aims to promote tourism in Ghana, with participants having the opportunity to witness military operational activities such as maneuvers and amphibian landing exercises upon their return from the Centre of the Earth.
Dzifa Hukporti, ISD
