Coast Guard Commander Gary Beaton says there have been no reports of piracy in the Essequibo area since the deployment of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard Floating Base at Pomeroon, in November last year.
Beaton, who recently led a team of Coast Guard officers on a regular inspection visit to the base, said it is proving to be a valuable national asset in the fight against piracy, and especially in the Essequibo, the GDF said in a statement yesterday. It added that it is envisaged that in the future other such facilities will be deployed along the coast.
The upsurge in piracy activities along the coast of Guyana gave rise to the need for the construction and deployment of the base, the GDF noted. As a result, the floating base, with thirteen ranks including the officer-in-command, was deployed on November 4, 2012 to engage in anti-piracy operations. It is located at the mouth of the Pomeroon River.
In addition to conducting regular patrols of the waterways off the Essequibo Coast, the ranks have commenced the development of a maritime information database. This database, Beaton explained, is developed from what is known as Visual Sighting Rep
orts (VSRs), which log the movement of vessels in the area to determine their patterns of “behaviour” or activity. “The Coast Guard has responsibility for the security of Guyana’s territorial waters, including the Exclusive Economic Zone and inland waters,” he was quoted as saying. “The presence of Coast Guard ranks on patrol in these waters is not meant to only serve as a deterrent to potential wrong-doers, but to enforce the laws as they relate to the nation’s waterways. To this end, our ranks can effect interdict vessels operating illegally in our waters of which may be operating in contravention to established national safety regulations and arrest person engaged in such breaches or other illegal activities while at sea.”
According to the GDF, Beaton’s inspection of the base included a check on the operational state of the facility, an inspection of the communications equipment and a probe into the efficacy of the communications protocols between the base and other GDF bases. It said he indicated that the operational state of the base is good and the morale of the troops located there is high.
The initial crew members of the base will go down in history as the first to crew such a facility, the GDF noted.
