Ghana urged to update maritime security guidelines regularly

Experts and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have suggested the need for government to embark on regular updates of the maritime security guidelines, to conform to international standards.

They said the expansion in exploration and increased resource base of oil and gas exploration companies call for regular update and operationalisation of maritime security guidelines to reflect changing trends.

The stakeholders also called for clarification of roles and responsibilities of agencies in the oil and gas industry.

Philip J. Herl, Chief, Air and Maritime Programmes Strategy Plans, presented some recommendations to government during an Executive debrief on Ghana’s maritime security on Thursday.

He said inter-agency information sharing must be enhanced for effective coordination of procedures between government and industry stakeholders.

Government ought to prioritise its investment to address resource shortfall and conduct routine training as well as revise the master plan of maritime security to provide adequate protection to the oil fields, he said.

Mr Teye Larbi, Deputy Minister of Defence said programmes and process have been developed to improve resource capability of the security services.

He said prioritisation of resources is vital to ensure that  efforts are not duplicated.

Source: GNA