Protection of an Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), anti piracy operations, illegal immigration and drug smuggling are becoming an ever growing concerns for many governments around the world.  In many cases of illegal operations, the offenders have an excellent chance of evading capture, confiscation of property and prosecution, meaning that the incursions only become more frequent over time.  In other cases, lives are lost when unsafe or overcrowded vessels become stricken.

 

Take an example of an illegal fishing boat being detected and the closest patrol boat being 100 nautical miles away.  If the patrol boat operates at 25 knots (37km/h) and the fishing boat at 15 knots, then it will take the patrol boat will take at least 10 hours hours (and 250 nautical miles) to chase down the illegal fishing boat, by which time evidence may be destroyed.  Such a pursuit would only occur if the patrol boat has fuel, provisions, crewing hours, and favourable conditions otherwise it is just not practical to pursue.

 

Coast guards and navies around the world need a fast, effective, all weather, long range deterrent and rescue capabilities.  Under the same scenario a one of our fast vessels could have an armed helicopter or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on the scene within 30 minutes, stopping the fishing vessel from escaping however even without this aerial support our vessel could chase down the fishing vessel in around 3 hours.  The fishing vessel would could be boarded and cleared within 4 hours, thus securing the EEZ and borders of a country for future generations.