Two fishermen in Tema Newtown died in the dawn of Thursday after they reportedly clashed with some personnel of the Marine Police of the Ghana Police Service in the Tema sea waters.
The deceased persons, with four others, whose names were not disclosed, were reported to have gone fishing despite an existing moratorium on fishing activities for artisanal fishermen, which is expected to elapse on Monday, 31st of July.
Personnel of the Marine Police and that of the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority allegedly picked information about the activities of the fishermen and reports from the Tema Fishing Harbour said the armed personnel, in their bid to arrest them (fishermen) on the sea, resulted in a collision between the personnel’s speedboat and the canoe in which the fishermen were paddling.
The reports said the collision resulted in the canoe of the fishermen capsizing, drowning the two fishermen while the whereabouts of four others are yet unknown.
The corpse of the two had since been deposited at the Tema General Hospital morgue.
One of the Chief Fishermen at the Tema Newtown, Canoe Basin, Nii Mator, declined any comment on the tragedy because he said the police and relevant state agencies had begun investigations into the matter.
However, Abena Serwaah Opoku Fosu, the Marketing and Public Affairs Manager at the Tema Port says it is not true that a GPHA boat and a fishing boat collided on the sea in the early hours of Thursday, July 27, 2023, resulting in the unfortunate death of two fishermen.
According to her, there was no collision between the Security Patrol Boat of her outfit
and any fishing boat as widely rumoured at the Tema Canoe Landing site, Tema Newtown. Abena Serwaah explained in a statement that the Port Control Station on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at about 3 am, received a distress call from MV. SEASPAN DUBAI, for assistance to ward off several fishing boats, which had surrounded their vessel.
Immediately, she said the security patrol team, which comprises the Ghana Navy, Marine Police and GPHA Security, responded, cautioned, and asked the said fishing boat owners to leave.
“At 01:18HRS, MT. MARINA ‘M’ which was also at the anchorage, called the Port Control Station for assistance to ward off a suspicious-looking fishing boat with about nine occupants. The team, again, responded by cautioning and directing the boat and its occupants to row out,” she explained.
On their way back, she said the patrol team chanced upon another set of fishermen who had cast their nets and were fishing within the Terminal Three basins, close to a container vessel.
“The nets were seized and the men were cautioned and led out of the basin. All patrol activities were halted at 04:55HRS on Thursday, July 27 without any incident of collision whatsoever,” she explained.
Later, she said a call from the Fishing Harbour Police Unit announced the discovery of two dead bodies which the fishermen refused the police team to convey, with the assertion that the two died as a result of a collision with a GPHA tugboat.
“That is not true. Even though the fishermen are aware of the dangers of fishing within the port basin and anchorage, some continue to carry out these illegal activities at the peril of their own lives and that of vessels and cargo.
“Despite these infractions, on occasions where we arrest fishermen and seize their nets, the Chief Fisherman and elders are notified. Often the culprits are pardoned and nets released without any fines.
“We wish to emphasise that GPHA is a responsible organisation involved in search and rescue missions and as such will not abandon victims of a collision even if it involved our craft,” Abena Serwaah Opoku Fosu noted.
