The United States government is committed to working with African countries to enhance maritime security on the continent, the Commanding Officer of the Navy ship ‘USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), Blue Crew,’ has said.

Captain David L. Gray Jr. says they are “working with like-minded partners to enhance maritime security in African coastal waters.”

“(This) is vital to ensure our partners in Africa can defend their territorial waters and cease illegal activities such as illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing and resource exploitation,” he told Joy News in an interview.

The ship recently completed a 43-day operation in the Gulf of Guinea along with maritime security operatives of six countries including Morocco, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria.

“We welcome the opportunity to train alongside our African partners…so our recent operations with the tracking exercises, passing exercises, fight operations, refuelling, intel collection, all have shown and point to our mutual commitment to stability and security off the coast of Africa,” Captain Gray noted. 

“I’m part of a team that will build, and build, and build. And I’m very confident we are going to do great work in Africa and help out with stability in the regions around here…We are here to stay; we are here to help. And we are going to bring stability and security to this area,” he explained.

“We are in the first ship dedicated to AFRICOM (United States Africa Command). We are not going to leave in 6 months and get another ship later. The ship is here to stay. So this is where we are going to put skin in the game,” Captain Gray added.

Illegal activities in the waters of Africa have been identified as a key threat to the security and stability of the continent.

Illegal fishing, piracy, pollution and human trafficking are some key unscrupulous activities on Africa’s waters that are causing the African economy greatly.

Illegal fishing alone is estimated to cost the West African economy an annual loss of about $2.3 billion.

Captain Gray in a telephone interview commended partners in Africa for making significant gains in helping protect the ocean from illegal activities and called for more collaborations.

“Working with like-minded partners to enhance maritime security in African coastal waters is vital to ensure our partners in Africa can defend their territorial waters and cease illegal activities such as IUU fishing and resource exportation,” he noted.

“We will work together to reach our mutual goals. No one nation can combat these issues alone. That’s why it’s a team effort. And this team came to support our partners,” Captain Gray added.