From the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, the Gulf of Aden and the Mozambique Channel in Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
While trafficking of illegal arms and drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery at sea rises exponentially, there is need for new tactics to confront this criminal network. To achieve this requires resources like patrol vessels, resources and manpower to deliver to expectation.
West Africa in recent years is experiencing a significant rise in the number of youngsters embarking on irregular migration through the high seas in search of greener pastures in the west. Due to its proximity to Europe, The Gambia is fast becoming a departure point for this clandestine migration.
In our Thursday edition, we ran a story in which the Gambian leader, President Adama Barrow, recently handed over the first offshore patrol vessel to the Gambia Navy.
The patrol vessel, which is described to be the first since 1989, was donated by the Kingdom of Spain through the Spanish Guardia Civil.
With this patrol, we now expect our Navy team to expand their regular operations and ensure security and regular monitoring of our vast coastline from foreign trawlers and intruders.
What is pleasing to note is that this new Patrol vessel – GNS FANKANTA – has the capacity and endurance to stay at sea for a longer time than any of the current fleet of vessels.
The coming of these patrol vessels is not only timely but a move in the right direction. Given the vast resources on our waters, Gambians now stand a chance to benefit from their own marine resources.
To this youth, the benefit one stands to gain from our waters is enormous. Let’s make best use of marine resources. From the look of things, many youngsters are reluctant to venture into the sea to make a decent living. However, they are always ready to embark on irregular migration through irregular means using the high seas to reach either Canary Islands and Italy.
No one will come from outside to develop this country of ours. So it is imperative as citizens we put our efforts together and harness our resources to the fullest. Irregular migration through the high seas is a risky enterprise.
The high dependence of The Gambia’s economy on the maritime sector and the sector’s enormous potential to contribute to food security and employment generation are enormous.
The Gambia Navy now has a greater task to fight against the rising trend of unauthorised and irregular ship-to-ship transfer of fuel and other goods at sea.
While organized criminal syndicates are planning ahead, let’s be ten folds ahead of them.
In an industry that stands the chance to rack billions of dollars of wealth, sometimes when one is faced with certain amounts of money could ‘compromise’ one’s loyalty and even integrity.
As officers loyal to the state, let’s stay glued to our oaths and always put the country first.