Ghana’s tourism industry on Thursday 18th April, 2024 got a further boost when the Elmina Fishing Harbour in Elmina, with the support of GPHA Port of Takoradi received the first cruise vessel to call at the Port since its commissioning in 2023 under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport.
Ghana is seen as one of the favorite destinations of cruise passengers worldwide with Tema and Takoradi being the traditional Ports of call.
With this maiden call by SH Vega, however, the Elmina fishing Harbour which was primarily built by government to assist fisherfolks and their fishing activities has now assumed a dual port role of being both a fishing port and cruise destination port of call.
The historical call at the Elmina Fishing Port by the over 280 capacity passenger vessel, SH Vega, had on board a total of 115 persons, comprising 106 passengers and 9 crew. The tourists toured Elmina castle and its township, the Batik making Centre at Global Mamas in Elmina, the Kakum National Par and the Cape coast castle.
They also enjoyed some traditional drumming and dance lessons with splendid performances.
The vessel, SH Vega, dropped its anchor in the Elmina waters, about 8.8 cables away from the port’s main breakwater. It then lowered its Zodiac (inflatable boats) into the water before carefully disembarking the 115 passengers and crew members into the zodiac in safe batches.
The nationalities of the passengers aboard the cruise vessel included Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Russia, and Nigeria among others. The vessel had previously sailed to some ports including Angola, Benin, Congo, Gabon, Togo and São Tomé.
The Director of Port, Mr Peter Amoo-Bediako, lauded the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Transport and its Sector Minister, Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah for the vision in the construction of the Elmina Fishing Harbour to assist the fishing activities of the people of Elmina and its environs. He noted that the call of SH Vega at the Elmina Fishing Harbour presented endless opportunities to the Port, in particular, and the Elmina township as a whole.
The Director of Port, Takoradi, was elated that, GPHA with the support of other regulatory institutions: Ghana Maritime Authority, GRA- Customs, National
Intelligence Bureau, National Security, NACOB, Immigration, Port Health, Marine Police and Ghana Police Service, was able to achieve this feat.
He described it as a great day in the annals of Ghana’s tourism and maritime sectors and thanked the various institutions for making this possible.
He was full of praise for the MCE of KEEA, Hon Solomon Appiah, the Omanhene of Elmina and the Chief Fisherman and the fisher community in Elmina for their cooperation in making the call of SH Vega.
The Municipal Chief Executive for KEEA, Hon Solomon Appiah, was optimistic that the local economy of Elmina and its environs would be positively affected with this historical achievement.