Goa Police have received two 15-metre fast patrol boats costing Rs 3 crore to strengthen coastal security, adding to the state’s currently available patrol capacity ahead of trials, personnel training and formal induction into the force.
The vessels will first undergo trials before being deployed by the coastal security police, Director General of Police Alok Kumar said, according to a report by the Times of India. The boats are expected to patrol the state’s coastline and cover the jurisdictions of Goa’s coastal security police stations.
A senior police officer said the boats would be used in line with a weekly patrolling pattern prepared by the police department. The schedule will determine how the vessels are assigned across the coastal-security police-station jurisdictions.
The addition addresses a capacity gap in the existing patrol fleet. Goa currently has only one operational 15-metre fast interceptor boat, named Chandreshwar, available for coastal patrolling with the coastal security police. Once the two new boats complete trials and are inducted, the force will have three such vessels available, subject to operational readiness and deployment requirements.
The procurement process was initiated after Goa Police invited bidders to construct the fast patrol boats. The successful bidder is required to provide five days of training in Goa to 10 police personnel. The training will cover the operation of the vessels and first-line maintenance, giving the force an initial in-house capacity to handle routine operational upkeep.
The boats are intended for patrolling rather than immediate deployment. Their induction will follow the trial phase, after which the police department will determine when they can be used on scheduled coastal patrols. The department has not disclosed in the supplied report the exact dates of the trials, the locations of the coastal security stations involved or the final deployment schedule.