The Mumbai Police on Tuesday launched two more bulletproof boats — Koyna and Kaveri — touted to “be the fastest high-speed interceptor boats in Indian waters” at the Gateway of India.

The boats, which cost Rs 5 crore with an endurance of 75 nautical miles, were inaugurated by the Mumbai Police Commissioner D Sivanandan and the Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Himanshu Roy. These boats were part of the 28 speedboats ordered by the Maharashtra Police at a total cost of Rs 48 crore. The Ministry of Home Affairs had selected Goa Shipyard Limited to construct such boats to strengthen coastal security across states by the end of this year.

Classified in the 12 tonne Hellraiser Class, Koyna is 13 metres long and capable of operating at 35 knots — fastest till date, as even the Coast Guard and Customs use boats that can operate below 30 knots. Koyna can carry four crew members along with a patrolling party of 16 police personnel as it is fully armed and equipped with GPS, Radar, high defined echo sounders to gauge the depth of sea bed, along with fire fighting, life saving and communication facilities. Kaveri with the same speed level is classified under the five tonne Invader Class and is 9.60 metres long. It can carry at least 10 police personnel.

According to Goa shipyard Limited, these boats can be used for high-end policing purposes like patrolling, day and night surveillance, search and rescue operations and chasing suspected vessels. Also, they have been designed to operate in shallow waters in and around harbour and anchorage.

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