Guinea-Bissau stowaway disembarks at Tema Port

Sulemane Balde, 28-year-old Frenchman from Guinea-Bissau has disembarked at the Tema Port after his attempt to stowaway was foiled on his arrest at high seas.

Balde, was said to have joined the vessel MV Aurora, via a mooring rope in the Port of Bissau on September 13, 2021 with the hope of going to the United Kingdom but was detected by the crew of the ship on September 15, 2021.

Colonel Emmanuel Nyante, Tema Port Security Manager, said the stowaway was disembarked in Tema due to proximity indicating that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) had completed its processes and handed the culprit over to the Ghana Immigration Service to be repatriated to his home country.

Col. Nyante said the Ghana’s ports for a long time had not recorded cases of successful stowaways, due to stringent measures deployed by port authorities.

“At the Port of Tema, there is a procedure we call rummaging, where we use trained working dogs to move within the vessel to ensure there are no stowaways before the vessel sets off, this is one way we have had success in the port,” he said.

He therefore urged sister ports to collaborate with each other against the stowaway menace. “I think we need to share procedures in each other’s ports while we are having non-reportage of stowaways in Ghana.”

Col. Nyante advised potential stowaways against embarking on such risky ventures saying that aside the fact that it discredited the port and country, they could also suffer punishments from their home country when disembarked.

The Port Security Manager stressed that, “what’s worse is sometimes, when you are found in high seas, you could be thrown overboard.”

Source: GNA