Seven crew members of the fishing vessel Second Chance, missing since departing Sekondi on October 9, have been located alive in Togolese territorial waters. The vessel is believed to have suffered engine failure and drifted over 120 nautical miles from its intended fishing grounds, leaving the crew stranded at sea for nearly two weeks without food or water.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson confirmed the breakthrough on Wednesday, October 21, telling Citi FM’s Eyewitness News that contact had been established with the crew and their location verified within Togo’s maritime boundary. “This afternoon, I had a briefing that some contact has been established with the crew and that their location is within Togolese waters,” Nelson said. “The Togo Navy has also been informed. Efforts are still underway to see how they can get them safely home.”
The confirmation capped a tense multi-agency search that began after the vessel’s owner, Nana Kweku Atta, reported the crew missing at the Fishing Harbour Police Station in Sekondi on October 18. Atta told police the vessel had departed Sekondi Fishing Harbour on October 9 for a routine fishing expedition offshore Axim but failed to return as expected. Repeated attempts to reach the crew by phone were unsuccessful, triggering alarm.
Engine Failure and a Drift Across Borders
Preliminary investigations indicated the vessel likely suffered engine failure at sea, leaving it adrift and vulnerable to ocean currents. Early assessments suggested it may have drifted toward Tema and the Volta coast, but the actual trajectory carried the crew far farther east — into Togolese waters, more than 120 nautical miles from their original fishing grounds.
Professor Benjamin B. Campion, Executive Director of the Fisheries Commission, provided additional detail in a Joy FM interview monitored by Graphic Online. He confirmed the crew had run out of food and water during their 12 days adrift but had since been given sustenance and were in good health. “For now they are very safe. Our major concern was their health and safety because they had run out of resources, but now they are okay,” Campion said. He noted that communication had been complicated by network issues and a language barrier with French-speaking authorities in the region, but the vessel’s owner had spoken directly with the crew.
A Coordinated Multi-Agency Response
The search operation drew on resources from across Ghana’s maritime and security apparatus. The Western Regional Marine Police Command coordinated the effort, working alongside the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Fisheries Commission, relevant coastal police stations, and local fishing communities. The Eastern Naval Command in Tema and chief fishermen along the coast were also alerted to watch for sightings.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture issued a statement expressing concern and urging vessels and coastal communities along the eastern coastline to remain vigilant and report any information that could assist in locating the missing crew. The ministry also reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening safety at sea, emergency communication, and coordinated maritime search and rescue systems.
A Community’s Relief
The incident highlights the persistent risks faced by Ghana’s artisanal fishing fleet, which operates with limited safety infrastructure and communication equipment. Fishing communities along the coast played an active role in the search, sharing local knowledge of currents and coastal conditions that proved useful in narrowing the search area.
Minister Nelson clarified that the Second Chance was not a traditional canoe but “a locally manufactured kind of boat,” a distinction that may bear on the vessel’s seaworthiness and the circumstances of its failure. The crew were engaged in ordinary fishing operations when the engine failed, leaving them stranded without propulsion in open waters.
As of Wednesday evening, arrangements were underway to bring the crew ashore in Togo for health examinations before transporting them back to Ghana by land. The Togolese Navy’s involvement underscores the routine but often invisible cross-border cooperation that sustains safety in West African waters, where fishing vessels frequently traverse maritime boundaries in pursuit of migrating stocks.
For the families in Sekondi who waited nearly two weeks without word, the confirmation that all seven men are alive and safe brought an end to an ordeal that could easily have turned tragic. The Fisheries Commission’s Campion said the priority now is ensuring the crew’s health is assessed and their return home is completed without further delay.
