USS Doyle (FFG 39), four Ghanaian patrol crafts and the newly commissioned South African frigate SAS Mendi (F 148) are participating in a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) and maritime interdiction operation exercise off the coast of Takoradi, Ghana during the week of Oct. 1.Doyle is deployed to the region to help strengthen regional partnerships and improve maritime security and safety in West and Central Africa.
Prior to getting underway, each ship exchanged officers and crew members with the other ships involved. Doyle embarked 20 Ghanaian and South African personnel and provided 10 riders among the ships in the flotilla.
The overall exercise included scenarios of divisional tactics, small boat operations, rescue and assistance (R&A), and was highlighted by a VBSS team exercise.
“The VBSS exercise in particular provided the Ghanaian participants a real-time opportunity to display their level of proficiency they had previously practiced in port and underway with Doyle crew members," said Capt. John Nowell, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 60. “They performed extremely well.”
During the R&A exercise portion, Doyle acted as the vessel in distress while both Doyle and Mendi’s rigid hull inflatable boats were used to transport personnel to Doyle for R&A familiarization.
“The R&A provided useful knowledge to the South African navy as they are in the process of establishing procedures for their repair locker teams while the Ghanaian sailors were able to apply skills they had learned while working with Doyle during an in port engagement,” said Nowell.
The exercise demonstrated the increased capacity of the Ghanaian sailors involved and integrated the South African navy as a capable partner nation in the maritime region of West and Central Africa.