An Oil Vessel which mysteriously strayed into Ghanaian waters and docked ashore at Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region last Tuesday has successfully been returned to the port of Lome in Togo where it was originally scheduled to dock.
The incident which residents claimed was the first time attracted hundreds of people even though it was raining at the time.
Strangely the Ghanaian security set up looked on unconcerned as the stray vessel made its way back to Togo.
Two sources from separate security agencies in Aflao who corroborated the situation emphasized that the ship which had the inscription ‘Barca Lome’ strayed into Ghana, thus Aflao accidentally.
They explained that the original destination of the vessel was the port of Togo, but for one reason it developed a mechanical fault and was suspected to have been drifted to the shores of Aflao by rising tidal waves.
According to them the vessel docked at a place called Atisukope which is about 200 meters from the Ghana-Togo border.
One of the sources who is in the Police Service in Aflao disclosed that he received information about the vessel at about 9:30am.
Information was relayed to the necessary quarters including the Police High command, the Navy, Immigration, Bureau of National Investigations among others.
He added that “Our counterparts in Togo were also alerted and within two hours the necessary arrangements were made to escort the vessel back to the Togo port where it was originally scheduled to dock.”
Yet another source also explained that the vessel was anchored at sea between the Togolese capital Lomé and Aflao, but had its anchors broken by strong tidal waves which drifted it onto the shores of Aflao.
He told an Accra radio station that “A combined team of Ghanaian and Togolese naval officers, however, managed to tow the stray ship back using another vessel later in the day,” the source stated.
Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that officials from the headquarters of Ghana Navy visited the scene last Wednesday morning.
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