While the UPA government scrambles to ensure that the Navy and the Coast Guard get their act together on protecting the country?s porous coastline exposed yet again by the Mumbai terror attacks, the customs department?s sea-patrolling abilities have just got a significant boost. Two years after the Cabinet gave its nod to acquire 109 new hi-tech patrol boats, the department had got delivery of 31 new boats by November 30.
The new vessels have already been commissioned for active duty. But with the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai, an official said they have been put on high alert, especially along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coastline.
The boats will be used by the customs department to keep a vigil on the country?s territorial waters up to 24 nautical miles. Till now, 20 boats bought in 1976 along with a few confiscated boats of the smugglers, were the only resources at the department?s disposal. The marine and logistics wing of the customs department is recruiting about 400 ex-navy men and coastguards to man the new boats.
With incidents of smuggling as well as terrorism and piracy in the high seas increasing, the government in 2000 felt the need to equip the customs department with better, more modern boats. Of the 31 boats received so far, 28 are large 20-metre boats with a maximum speed of 25 knots. Manned by a crew of 10 officers, they are equipped with radars, GPS and auto-navigation and are used to patrol the deep-seas.
Another three boats, two of which were delivered on Sunday, will be used in shallow coastal areas?specifically, the backwaters of Kerala and the riverine areas near Bangladesh , that often turn out to be ?smugglers? dens?. The Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs), as they are known, are bullet proof and non-sinkable. The customs department expects delivery of another 60 such boats in due course of time.
But the department will have to wait for another year before it can get the 22 interceptor boats. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is finalising a contract for these boats, which are similar to the larger 20-metre boats. ?We hope to sign the contract by December 15 and delivery will take as much as a year after that,? an official said.
The interceptor boats are said to be the most useful and effective. Extremely compact and swift, they can watch over both the shallow coastal waters as well as the high seas and as the name suggests, are used to intercept, and if the need be, to attack, suspicious vessels.