US High-Speed Vessel in Tema

The HSV-2 (High Speed Vessel) Swift was in Tema on Monday, November 17, 2003 as part of the West African Training Cruise 2004.

The Swift picked up U.S. Marines and sailors who participated in a training exercise with the Ghanaian military from November 13th to the 17th.

US Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, members of the Ghanaian military and local press toured the vessel while it was in port.

HSV-2 Swift is a wave piercing, aluminum-hulled commercial catamaran vessel with military enhancements such as a helicopter flight deck with the capability to support night flight operations, a small boat or unmanned vehicle launch and recovery capability, modifiable berthing compartments, enhanced ramps for military vehicles and an enhanced communications suite.

The West African Training Cruise is a regularly scheduled exercise that has been conducted since 1978.

WATC consists of a series of bilateral interactions between the United States military and individual African nations. The purpose of the exercise is to enhance security cooperation between the U.S. and participating West African countries by providing American and host nation participants the opportunity to conduct various drills n a real-world environment.

Host nation participants in this year's WATC include Cameroon, Ghana, the Gambia, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Africa.

In addition to the benefit of increased operability between the American and Ghanaian militaries, WATC 04 also provides an ideal opportunity for the U.S. and Ghana to experiment with cutting-edge equipment such as the use of the High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2).

Past WATC activities in Ghana have included medical outreach programs in Sekondi/Takoradi, Shai Hills and Mankoadze as well as many shared military training exercises.