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U.S. Navy Tug Begins Dive Exercise with Ghanaian Navy

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060906-20
Release Date: 9/6/2006 5:13:00 PM

From Sealift Logistics Command Europe Public Affairs

NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Military Sealift Command tug USNS Apache (T-ATF 172) arrived in Sekondi, Ghana, Sept. 3 to participate in a military exercise with the Ghanaian navy as part of the United States’ ongoing effort to strengthen its emerging partnership with that country.

During the exercise, divers from Apache’s embarked Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 will conduct a series of dives with Ghanaian divers designed to familiarize the Sailors with various dive tools and techniques, build their experience and sharpen the skills they need to work effectively in a multinational environment.

Chief Warrant Officer Peter Sharpe, officer-in-charge of MDSU 2, said the divers and crew aboard Apache have gained a good deal of insight and experience from their time in West Africa thus far and are looking forward to their upcoming collaboration with the Ghanaian navy.

“This exercise is a wonderful opportunity to train alongside our partners in Ghana, share information and build ties between our two navies,” said Sharpe.

This is Apache’s fourth week in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea region. Prior to arriving in Ghana, Apache was in Liberia surveying shipwrecks in three of the country’s ports, as well as making improvements to a commercial pier in Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia.

Since arriving in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in April, the ship has conducted a number of dive exercises with NATO and U.S. partner nations similar to the exercise that will take place in Ghana. These nations include France, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.

When she is not participating in military exercises, Apache provides towing services and operates as a platform for divers in the recovery of downed ships and aircraft. The ship is operated by 16 U.S. civil service mariners employed by Military Sealift Command (MSC). MSC operates the U.S. Navy’s fleet of more than 120 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that deliver combat equipment to troops, resupply Navy ships at sea, chart the ocean floor and perform a variety of other missions for the Department of Defense.