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Coast Guard station set for expansion Law & order

The Beypore Coast Guard Station will soon be upgraded to ‘C’ class, raising the number of personnel to 50, including five officers. By the year-end, an interceptor boat will be commissioned for its use, says P.K. Mishra, Station Commander.

A. Rajasekhar, Inspector-General and Commander, Region (West), Indian Coast Guard, visited the station on Monday. Development of infrastructure and operational network of the station will now be given an impetus.

The station, commissioned on May 25, 2006, is now poised to become a key unit in the State. It now has 18 personnel. The State has Coast Guard stations in Vizhinjam and Kochi also. There is one in Lakshadweep.

The Beypore station has two high-speed Bristol Interceptor Crafts for search and rescue of fishermen in distress and maritime surveillance and security. The station is likely to get Global Maritime Distress Safety System communication equipment to intercept distress alert and initiate search and rescue.

Mr. Mishra says more land has to be acquired with the support of the State Government to tap the potential of the station. Bigger vessels can be brought into the station only after dredging the channel. Similarly, backwater modifications had to be done for berthing ships. In future, the station will have a fast patrol vessel.

During the past one year, the station carried out 72 sorties, apprehended two vessels and warned 100 fishing boats for not carrying documents and proper life- saving and communication equipment. It succeeded in 18 search-and-rescue operations. Coast Guard personnel assisted the Fire and Rescue Services and the police in the rescue operations during the fire on Sweet Meat Street on April 5, he says.

The station trains Karnataka and Kerala police personnel in coastal policing. A sea rescue squad comprising people selected from the fishing community has been trained.

The Coast Guard is preparing to extend patrolling with the enhancement of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country to 350 nautical miles from the baseline by 2009. This will increase the area of surveillance from 2.1 million sq. km to over 3 million sq. km.

Mr. Mishra says the Beypore station was well equipped to do search and rescue during natural calamities, enforce law at sea and assist fishermen. Two Coast Guard ships and their aircraft are always on the shorelines of the State.

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