Chennai. The Coast Guard and the Coastal Police will intensify patrolling to prevent Indian fishermen from crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and Sri Lankan fishermen from entering Indian waters. The crossing of the International Maritime Boundary Line into Sri Lankan waters, mainly from Tamil Nadu, has been a major issue of conflict between the two countries with fishermen organizations protesting the arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities. At present 92 Indian fishermen are in the custody of Sri Lankan authorities. The boats of the arrested fishermen have also been confiscated by the Sri Lankan authorities.
Similarly, Indian authorities have also taken into custody Sri Lankan fishermen who crossed into Indian territory while crossing IMBL.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar about the arrest of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu as well as the confiscation of their mechanized boats by the Sri Lankan authorities.
The Coast Guard on Friday commissioned a new interceptor boat, C-436 and is now based at Karaikal. This boat will be mainly used for surveillance along the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The boat will have one officer and 12 enlisted personnel as crew and the boat will be used to watch criminal activities at sea as well as to prevent fishermen from crossing IMBL, as the vessel may not have any crime at sea. There is the necessary access, sustenance and modern equipment to prevent this.
The vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment. The boat can carry an airborne boat for boarding, search and rescue operations, law enforcement and maritime patrol.
The Coast Guard now has a fleet of four boats with two interceptor boats – C-435 and C-436 and offshore patrol vessels, ‘ICSG Ameya’ and ‘ICGS Rani Durgavati’.
—AnyTV News
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