Taiwan's newly established Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has plans to establish a "three-dimensional" monitoring capability and an island-wide surveillance system as one of its future functions, said the new director Wang Chun (王郡).
"The three-dimensional monitoring capability is to be developed through the build-up of on-the-shore, coastal, ocean-going and air forces. We hope to reach the goals in a given time, but we know that we are still in the infancy stage compared to coast guard forces of advanced countries," Wang said.
Wang said the coast guard also has ambitious plans to have three 5,000-tonne large-sized vessels built. The 5,000-tonne ship will dwarf any warship presently in service in the navy.
So far, the biggest ships operational in the coast guard are eight 1,900-tonne vessels handed over from the customs authorities.
"We have not made a final decision on whether to go ahead with the 5,000-tonne ship building plan. We have to consider many factors, especially the cost," Wang said.
Officials with the CGA said the 5,000-tonne ships would be equipped with helicopters, which would significantly upgrade the search and rescue capability of the coast guard.
The ship building plan is just one part of Wang's project to develop a three-dimensional monitoring system, which could cover areas from the coast to the sea, and from the ground to the air.
Wang said the purpose of the "three dimensional" approach was to carry out missions from the coast to the high seas.
"Our aim is to effectively enforce law within our 200 nautical mile economic zone. We hope to achieve it, though it is not going to be an easy job," Wang said.
In addition to the upgrade in the coast guard's monitoring capability, Wang said another priority was to establish a surveillance network around the island using high-tech equipment as well as personnel networking.
"Taiwan has a coastline of 1,500km. We do not expect our surveillance systems to cover every spot along the coast. We will build it selectively on spots prone to smuggling activities," Wang said.
Officials with the CGA said the surveillance system, comprised of radar, infrared sensors, sonar, as well as image scanning equipment, costs around NT$20 million for every kilometer. The total cost will run as high as NT$160 billion if the system is to comprehensively cover the coastline.
Because of budgetary constraints, Wang said the CGA will look to civilians for assistance in establishing a toll-free hotline to report unusual sightings off or along the coast.
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