They are 56 strong and tasked with patrolling and protecting 165 miles of coastline. Well this morning the job of the Belize National Coast Guard service was made that much easier with the donation of another refurbished 39-foot Stinger class patrol vessel from the United States. The skiff is outfitted with 3 two-hundred horsepower engines as well as radio and radar equipment and it is the third stinger donated by the USA. This morning Charge d' Affairs of the U.S. Embassy Lloyd Moss handed over the keys to Home Affairs Minister Ralph Fonseca. He in turn handed the keys to Commandant of the Coast Guard Cedric Borland. The donation coincides with the visit of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter "Gentian" which arrived in Belize on Monday. Commandant Borland told us more.
Cedric Borland, Commandant - BNCGS
"That is going to add another boat to our fleet. As I mentioned we now have eight vessels fully operational. This is actually going to sustain our operations out at sea. We are able to do important changeovers and we are able to sustain the maintenance of our vessels. In routine operations it means that I won't deploy all the assets but we will rotate the assets on patrol. If there is a need of course to have right assets at any particular time we'll do that but as a routine nature, this is going to assist us in actually maintaining and sustaining our fleet.
The Gentian arrived on Monday. They went immediately into training with our coast guard personnel. In fact we had as well some people from the Port Authority, the Fisheries, and from the Tourism Board with us receiving training from the Gentian. That went on all day yesterday and we expect this afternoon that some training will also take place. That is one aspect of the Gentian serving us. The other aspect is the Gentian as well brought some spare parts and equipment for us. We have received life jackets, navigational equipment, and other accessories that we use out at sea."
There are two Belizeans training on the Gentian which after 63 years will be decommissioned later this year. The Gentian has been visiting Belize annually since 2001. Borland says the Coast Guard now has 8 vessels boats in their fleet.
