Kofi Ampeah Woode
Heeding a request by Fly Zipline Ghana Limited – a drone delivery company – Ghana Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer assistance in the recovery of their lost drones and supplies along major river bodies in the country.
The MoU was formalized with exchange of signatories between the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of the Ghana Armed Forces – Rear Admiral (R/Adm) Issah Adam Yakubu, and the General Manager Fly Zipline Ghana Limited – Mr Mawuli Atiemo, at a brief ceremony held at the Naval Headquarters, Burma Camp, Accra, on Wednesday 8 November 2023.
R/Adm IA Yakubu said the primary role of the Navy is to provide sea defence and maritime support, thus Fly Zipline Ghana’s request for help to recover lost drones was timely and within the capabilities of the Navy.
He stressed that plans were underway to form the Ghana Navy Drone Squadron who would be responsible for operating its drones to assist in search and rescue operations, with whose establishment, recovery of drones ditched particularly in riverine bodies, would be easier to retrieve.
The CNS maintained that it was important to be technologically advanced in order to have access to web-based tracking systems, and with collaboration, analysis on info-graphics will become easier having to tap on Zipline Ghana’s expertise and capacity.
Mr Mawuli Atiemo on the other hand, was hopeful that with the signing of the MoU, the two institutions would have an enhanced partnership in sharing ideas, which will be beneficial to the country at large.
He added that Fly Zipline Ghana is on a mission to develop the largest supply chain company, mentioning that the company currently runs as the largest autonomous delivery of drones across the world, from its base in Ghana, which delivers medical vaccines as well as emergency products like anti-snakes and rabies, as well as blood.
The MoU further seeks to enhance collaborations in the area of capacity building and afford training opportunities between the two institutions.
Sometime in April 2023, a consensus was reached, where Ghana Navy granted Fly Zipline Ghana the access to its Maritime Operations Centre to its web-based monitoring platform, to enable the Navy track and follow Zipline’s flight operations, and respond swiftly, should a drone ditch or a supply drop into any of the water bodies over which Zipline operates.
The Chief Staff Officer (CSO), Naval Headquarters – Commodore (Cdre) Prosper Modey; the Deputy CSO, Policy and Plans – Cdre Solomon Asiedu-Larbi; Deputy CSO, Operations and Training – Naval Captain Yirenkyi, some Directors and Senior Officers, as well as representatives of Fly Zipline Ghana Limited, were present.
Credit: GHANA NAVY PR
