The Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, has announced that the Government is preparing to launch a National Seafarer Development Policy designed to enhance the welfare, working conditions, and career prospects of Ghanaian seafarers. This announcement was made during activities commemorating the International Day of the Seafarer, which is celebrated each year on June 25.
According to Dr Kamal-Deen, President John Mahama is anticipated to unveil the policy in the coming months as part of initiatives aimed at strengthening Ghana’s maritime workforce and boosting the nation’s participation in the global shipping industry. He emphasised that the policy will serve as a comprehensive roadmap to support Ghanaian seafarers while generating employment opportunities and additional benefits.
“It will show the action plans that we will take to promote, first and foremost, Ghanaian seafarers and to increase our world tally of seafarers. It will also show how this country can benefit economically from the remittances of seafarers,” he stated.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by many prospective seafarers in accessing funding due to the exclusion of maritime training institutions, such as the Regional Maritime University, from existing national educational financing programs, Dr Kamal-Deen indicated that the Authority is exploring a support mechanism. This could take the form of loans or grants to assist students pursuing maritime careers.
In addition to the proposed policy, he mentioned that other initiatives are being developed to bolster the welfare and social protection of seafarers. “Contributing means that they can contribute, yet not a tier one; they can contribute tier two and tier three. We should be able to create a fund to cover certain emergencies. For example, if a Ghanaian seafarer needs to be evacuated from Rotterdam to Ghana because of a medical situation, we should be able to help in doing that.”
Regarding gender inclusion, Dr Kamal-Deen noted that the Authority has intensified efforts to provide more opportunities for women within the maritime sector. He shared that the Ghana Maritime Authority is now encouraging shipping companies that engage Ghanaian seafarers to allocate positions specifically for women while also initiating mentorship programs to support their professional growth.
“One of the things that we have done since we entered office is that whenever we engage a shipping company to open or to get opportunities for our seafarers, we insist that a good number of them must be women also,” he remarked. He added, “We have also started engagement that is looking into the welfare of women, and the Ghana Maritime Authority has brought them on board so that we can create guidance, we can create mentors for them to look up to.”
