Ghana: The Fisheries Commission agency of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MOFAD) of the Government of Ghana has chosen exactEarth for the provision of Satellite AIS data services as well as a small vessel tracking solution. The agency is working under West Africa Regional Fisheries Programme and the contract given to exactEarth ranges from $1.0-$2.0 million for a 12 month period.
The contract will enable Ghana to acquire the technology necessary to monitor its expansive coastlines and deter illegal fishing in its national waters. Along with a comprehensive Satellite AIS data feed, exactEarth will provide MOFAD with 450 Class B AIS transceivers to be installed on inshore fishing vessels which will be tracked via satellite utilising exactEarth’s exactTraxTM small vessel tracking technology.
In order to address the rampant Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing around Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zone, MOFAD have provisioned this small vessel tracking solution to gain access to detailed fishing vessel positions and movement analysis services through the exactEarth ShipView platform. exactEarth ShipView will be upgraded to include a SOS alerting facility in an effort to support Ghana’s government in their “safety of life at sea” initiative, which is intended to help its fishermen.
exactEarth will be working with a local partner and academic institutions in Ghana to provide vessel movement analysis and reporting to help inform policy decision making and also to engage the next generation maritime professionals in coastal surveillance to protect and preserve Ghana`s fish stock for the future.
“This is an important strategic win and a major step forward for our small vessel tracking initiative,” said Peter Mabson, exactEarth CEO. “MOFAD needs a high performance, reliable and compliant maritime monitoring solution to protect their critical fishing industry and our small vessel tracking capabilities will be an integral part of helping them achieve that objective. This reflects the growing opportunity for both our large and small vessel tracking solutions and our reputation for having the leading Satellite AIS solution on the market.”
