The MV Sankofa at the centre of a public controversy has not been a Ghanaian-flagged vessel since April 2024, the Ghana Maritime Authority has clarified, tracing the ship’s identity through a series of name changes stretching back four decades to 1983.
The clarification came in a press release dated Wednesday April 22, 2026, in which the GMA responded a persistent and concerning public commentary and media interviews by Akwapim North Member of Parliament, Samuel Awuku regarding the vessel.
According to the Authority, the vessel with IMO No. 7395870 was first registered under the Ghana flag in 1983 as a fishing trawler named MV KAAS 105.
It was subsequently re-registered as MV AFKO 312 in 1987 and again as MV Marine 711 in 2011. In 2024, the vessel’s owners applied for deregistration and following the completion of all mandatory processes, including the formal surrender of its Certificate of Ghanaian Registry, the vessel was officially deleted from Ghana’s Ship Registry on 23rd April 2024.
The GMA further clarified that a separate earlier vessel also bearing the name MV Sankofa, with a different IMO number 907855, had similarly been deregistered from the Ghana flag on 6th October 2021, after completing the same mandatory surrender processes.
“Neither the vessel in question with IMO No 7395870 nor the vessel with IMO No 907855 is on Ghana’s register; therefore, they are not Ghanaian-flagged vessels,” the Authority stated, adding that under its protocols, no two vessels can bear the same name while on Ghana’s register.
The identity clarification sits at the heart of the GMA’s pushback against the MP’s public engagements on the matter.
The Authority said the MP first raised the issue through a Facebook post on 9th April 2026, suggesting he intended to pursue it through the Parliamentary Committee on Public Administration and State Interest, of which he is Vice Chair. The GMA responded on 11th April 2026, indicating its readiness to appear before the committee and engage transparently.
Instead, the Authority said, the MP abandoned the formal parliamentary route and turned to media engagements and a Right to Information request, a request he later withdrew before submitting a fresh one, the stamped receipt of which subsequently circulated on social media.
Despite its deregistration from the Ghana flag, the vessel’s history with Ghanaian authorities did not end in 2024.
In July 2025, the Ghana Navy spotted the MV Sankofa in Ghana’s territorial waters during routine patrols.
The crew claimed the vessel was on sea trials following engine repairs, but inspections at the Sekondi Naval Base uncovered violations including false flagging, marine pollution breaches under the Marine Pollution Act, 2016 (Act 932), and maritime labour infractions.
The vessel was fined $79,200 for marine pollution breaches, GH¢154,800 for labour violations and GH¢30,000 for false flagging before being released in November 2025 after paying part of the fines and obtaining a provisional certificate of registry from Cameroon.
The vessel surfaced again in March 2026, this time in Senegalese waters, where authorities contacted the GMA seeking to verify its registration following suspicions of drug trafficking.
The GMA promptly disassociated Ghana from the vessel, and Senegalese authorities subsequently boarded and searched it, finding no illicit drugs.
The vessel was found carrying electronic documents showing registration under the Cameroonian flag.
The GMA said the MP’s decision to publicise restricted communications between Ghanaian and Senegalese law enforcement agencies had breached standard protocols of state-to-state security cooperation and jeopardised trust between the two countries.
The Authority closed its statement with an assurance that all its activities are conducted in strict compliance with national laws and international maritime regulatory standards.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
