THE fishery protection vessel which Lesley Griffiths, Welsh Minister for the environment, handed over to the Liberian government has left Conwy marina for its new home in West Africa.

North Wales Pioneer: Gurly T Gibson Schwarz, the Liberian ambassador receiving the vessel from Lesley GriffithsGurly T Gibson Schwarz, the Liberian ambassador receiving the vessel from Lesley Griffiths

Mrs Griffiths handed over the Aegis, to the Liberian ambassador, Gurly T Gibson Schwarz in the marina last month. The vessel will be renamed the Pride of Wales. The Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa had offered the vessel to the Liberian Government.

North Wales Pioneer: The handing over ceremony with the Liberian ambassador Gurly T Gibson Schwarz and Lesley GriffithsThe handing over ceremony with the Liberian ambassador Gurly T Gibson Schwarz and Lesley Griffiths

The Aegis will be used as a fisheries protection and search and rescue vessel, protecting the 40,000 Liberians involved in legitimate fishing from illegal fishing by foreign trawlers.

The vessel has sailed from Conwy en route to Antwerp, where it will be fitted into a cradle and transported on a much bigger ship to Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city.