Apparently buoyed by its recent contract to supply armed guards on aboard ship on Ghanaian waters, a foreign private security firm; Watchwood Resources Ltd (WRL) has said its next target is to replicate the same contract in Nigeria.
The Ghanaian government last week announced a British private security company (PSC) license to have armed guards on board vessels.
By the contract, WGL,is expected to engage in armed maritime security training, ship risk assessments, crew anti-piracy training, and ship-to-ship security starting from the end of June.
Apparently buoyed by its recent contract to supply armed guards on aboard ship on Ghanaian waters, a foreign private security firm; Watchwood Resources Ltd (WRL) has said its next target is to replicate the same contract in Nigeria.
The Ghanaian government last week announced a British private security company (PSC) license to have armed guards on board vessels.
By the contract, WGL,is expected to engage in armed maritime security training, ship risk assessments, crew anti-piracy training, and ship-to-ship security starting from the end of June.
With the contract which is effective from end of June 2015, Watchwood Resources Ltd (WRL) will accompany armed Ghana Marine Police aboard commercial vessels within Ghana's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and provide security services.
Confirming the good news, Jonathan Stamper; director at WRL said, “We have been working on getting an agreement signed since the middle of last year and it's just been approved”.
Giving an insight into the security outfit’s expansionist dream, the WRL boss said, "ECOWAS has been discussing a joint strategic framework for a while, but implementation has not been forthcoming”.
But the firm may have found an ally in Ghana's president, John Dramani Mahama, who was appointed the chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2014 and is a key member of the Group, is expected to have significant influence on the progression of a maritime security framework for the region, which for a long time has been stagnant.
A number of security initiatives have been implemented since the 2013 ECOWAS Summit of heads of states on maritime safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea, but nothing collective regarding on-board security.
The WRL director; Jonathan Stamper says despite securing a deal in Ghana, WRL is not currently planning to offer their services to the wider region. "It would be nice to go to Nigeria, but we want to get our operations up and running first," Stamper said.
"Until now, no armed foreign nationals have been allowed to board vessels within territorial waters, but we hope that if we can demonstrate that it is a viable option, other states in the region may adopt the use of qualified security officers," he said.
WRL have formed a joint venture creating Watchwood Ghana Ltd (WGL), based in the port of Tema, Ghana and is made up of senior Ghanaian government representatives, British security experts and is chaired by Ghana's commissioner of police, David Asante-Apeatu.
"We are proposing a joint team of three to four Ghanaian marine police officers per vessel with the equivalent number of trained British security officers," said Stamper.
The PSC, also currently providing training courses to the Ghana Marine Police, are compliant with BMP4 and the International 100 Series in relation to the rules for the use of force.
Shipping Position Daily however recalls that the Nigerian Government had in February warned that it will not allow any private security outfit on board any vessel within the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and her territorial waters.
Nigeria had told foreign ship owners and agents that the Nigerian Navy is the sole authority in the country’s territorial waters and EEZ, and that the only legitimate method of security protection in Nigerian waters is the escort services provided by the Navy. About three ship who violated the order were even arrested.
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