1030 Asante Empire & Andikra Symbols   Capt. Daley's Sea Stories

M/V Ken C Tamblyn Ghana, Africa

30 September 2010

Asante Empire & Adinkra Symbols 

 

The Asante are a major ethnic group in Ghana. They were a powerful, militaristic, and highly disciplined people of West Africa. The ancient Ashanti migrated from the northwestern Niger River after the fall of the Ghana Empire in the 13th century.

Around the 13th century, the Ashanti migrated into the forest belt of present-day Ghana and established small states in the hilly country around present-day Kumasi. During the height of the Mali Empire the Akan people became wealthy through the trading of gold mined from their territory.

Adinkra symbols are used to convey parables and moral teachings in a simple graphic. They are good lessons for today’s society worldwide! 

 

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Here is a typical Ghanaian fishing boat coming in from the Gulf of Guinea. The fact that these vessels are hand made and that this vessel is over 20 meters (66 ft.) is very impressive to me. These are very spiritual people as you can see by the name of the boat, “Good Wife” and the slogan “Jesus is the Answer.”

We will be working in and near the Jubilee field near the border with Cote d’Ivoire about 30 miles offshore in 1500 meters of water (4,920 ft.). The Guardian is one of four vessels providing security in the area. They launch RIB’s (Rigid Inflatable Boats) with armed guards to chase off fishermen and pirates.

The Happy Ranger, aka Big Lift, enters the Sekondi Naval Base. She is a 10,000 ton support ship for Technip’s pipe laying operation in the Jubilee Field. You can see the large spool of pipe lying on deck. This will be transferred to their pipe lay ship to hook up the various deep water wells.

A closer look at her deck is afforded as she docks near our stern. She is Dutch Flag and was originally designed as a dedicated cargo ship.

Thirty of these beautiful sea birds visited us. There stay would have been more appreciated had they not left so many presents behind!

I am steering the Ken C Tamblyn from the forward control station. My hand is on the starboard z drive controller. I can change the direction the prop is pointing through 360 degrees by turning my hand. The speed of the prop is controlled by the black handle above my hand.

Here is one of the Security RIB’s I discussed in an earlier photo. There are seats for 9 people and there is a 50 mm gun mount forward. There just doesn’t seem like much protection when the pirates start firing at the RIB.

And if that is not enough protection, here is a French Navy Warship coming into the Sekondi Naval Base. She is loaded with guns, missiles, torpedoes and more. I assume she is here because Technip is a French company.

It would be nice to have as many crewmembers mooring my vessel as she has. Look at how narrow she is compared to my stern. I didn’t appreciate the bow gun aimed at my bridge. Was it something I said?

The Ken C Tamblyn alongside the pier at Sekondi Naval base is a good sized vessel by any standards. As a dedicated frac boat, she operates very effectively.

Here is another Ghanaian fishing vessel. These people do so much with so little. It is very impressive.

Here is a page from a book about Adinkra symbols. You can find further info about other symbols on the web.

The author documented some 50 Adinkra symbols and designed 40 Agama symbols to document and preserve Ghanaian parables.

This man set up a tent with handicrafts for sale. He has been sitting out in the hot sun for the past three days, but he has quite a lot of volume of seamen wanting to buy these crafts conveniently.

This huge vessel is dedicated to laying deepwater pipeline. It is operated by Technip, a company based in France but with operations headquarters in Houston Texas. The Deep Pioneer dwarfs the size of the Happy Ranger.

This Ghanaian material is called kente. It is hand woven and takes two months to make. I was so lucky to find this particular piece. It is made very well. My friends from Ghana insist that I make a shirt and hat from it. I’m just not sure I want to use the material in that way, though the shirt would be very unique. The material was originally designed for royalty and wraps around your body like a toga. Each color is significant. There’s more on the web.

By the way, this is my state room. It has a nice size rack in it with a large shelf next to it. A previous occupant used the shelf for a 19 inch TV. The carpet keeps it very quiet and is a very nice touch.

I have a desk in my room and a leather sofa. Luckily my bags fit perfect in the free space between the desk and the sofa (all 4 of them). There is a large window looking out on the starboard side of the boat. The head (bathroom and shower) is the wall on the right side of this photo.

I decided this trip to bring a bit of Ghana home with me. The bag is leather and is designed well and is very rustic. The mask is used by kings on their throne room. The fertility doll has an Adinkra symbol on her, this one means learn from your mistakes. The rhino is ebony and the buffalo is striped ebony. The ladder on the jewelry is the symbol for death (stairway to heaven). And the one to the right is the symbol for the Creator.