Volta Lake vessels equipped with advanced navigation technology for safer transport

Ghanaian

Two vessels operating on the Volta Lake have received advanced navigation equipment to help prevent water transport accidents.

The aim of this installation of cutting-edge technology, which was supplied by a leading maritime technology company, Sternula, on the Volta and Buipe Queens, is to improve safety on the Volta Lake.

According to Graphic Online, the installation is also expected

Read full articleto guide officials of the Volta Lake Transport Company Limited (VLTC) in enhancing safety on the lake by identifying potential hazards through mapping. This will help to significantly reduce water transport accidents.

The Ghana-Denmark Maritime Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) saw the Danish Geodata Agency (DGA) collaborating with the Danish Maritime Authority and their Ghanaian counterparts to undertake the installation.

A combination of satellite images and crowd-sourced data will be used to map out safe and navigable routes on the lake. This will enable safer and more efficient journeys.

It is expected that this technology will also improve route planning, allowing ship captains to create more reliable routes, minimizing delays, and avoiding potentially dangerous areas.

Ultimately, the technology will present a map of safe routes on an online platform accessible to all local users of the lake and other stakeholders. This initiative will pave the way for a lasting solution to navigation challenges faced by users of the lake, according to officials of the Danish Embassy in Ghana.

The Maritime Sector Counsellor at the Embassy and Coordinator of the SSC, Sif Alberte Andersen, praised the collaboration between the Danish Geodata Agency (DGA) and the Volta Lake Transport Company Limited (VLTC) that led to the project's birth.

Ms Andersen stated that the installed technology leveraged crowd-sourced data collection, enabling data to be collected to enhance navigation safety and convenience on the lake, with the ultimate objective of reducing the occurrence of accidents.

The Director-General of the Danish Geodata Agency, Pia Dahl Højgaard, expressed excitement to support the maritime collaboration, as the Danish Geodata Agency aimed to use new technologies and data-driven workflows to improve navigation safety.

The Managing Director (MD) of VLTC, Rose Appiah Okyere, expressed her appreciation for this support. She also said that the project held significant potential to enhance VLTC's operations on the Volta Lake, improving both passenger and cargo transportation services.

Mrs. Okyere said, "We at VLTC welcome the opportunity to benefit from the agreement signed between Ghana and Denmark, and we see the collaboration as crucial, considering the vastness of the Volta Lake, with its 8,500 square kilometres of surface area and the absence of established navigation routes."

The VLTC MD expressed the hope that the implementation of e-navigation technology would be instrumental in curbing accidents and enhancing safety on the lake.