Topic: US Navy Ship Heads To Africa To Help Boost Maritime Security

Yahoo.com
October 29, 2007 MADRID (AFP) -- A US Navy ship will depart Spain on Tuesday for a seven-month deployment to central and west Africa designed to help nations around the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea beef up maritime security, officials said.
The amphibious ship USS Fort McHenry will provide training to officials on how to fight crime ranging from unlawful fishing to human and drug trafficking.
It will be joined later by another US Navy vessel as part of the Africa Partnership Station Initiative which also involves officials from Britain, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain as well as non-governmental organizations.
"We all realized that a stable and prosperous Africa is not just good for Africans, it is good for the rest of the world," US 6th Fleet Vice Admiral James A. Winnefeld told AFP.
Plans include visits to Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and the tiny archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe while possible stops in several other African nations are also being explored.
"In some of these countries we expect to have up to 150 students per day," said British Royal Navy Commander Nigel May.
Training will be provided in a broad range of areas, including logistics, search and rescue, maritime domain awareness and navigation.
The plan is to involve more nations in the training in future deployments, which may be carried out on a civilian ship or a vessel belonging to the navy of another country.
"The Africa Partnership Station Initiative is designed to begin an enduring international effort to help our African partner nations become self-sufficient in maritime safety and security," said Vice Admiral Winnefeld.
"We dont have any illusions that we are going to solve this problem overnight."
The USS Fort McHenry will also distribute 75 tonnes of humanitarian assistance worth 350,000 US dollars (243,000 euros) during its current mission.