…is where we are in terms of Border Force sea-going assets. Making ‘Seaguard’, our latest Maritime Foundation keynote film, reported this about international maritime border protection. Italy, with her 4,722 miles of coastline, has 600 patrol vessels. Nearly one for each 8 miles, then. Spain, with a 3,085 littoral-mile commitment, has 147. A handsome one for each 21 miles. Greece, hammered like Spain by Euro membership, still manages 240 vessels for its 8,497 coastal waters. A nice and comfortable 35 miles per vessel. So our three longer-range vessels – if they can be manned – must cover 7,723 miles of coast. 2,574 miles per patrol boat. Now, none of that is literal – it’s just a comparative measure. And filming ‘Seaguard’, we were able to report the three new vessels acquired for UKBF (picture.) But they’re inshore workers. So, handy, but not multi-deployable.
NOT EVEN NEAR THE PREMIER LEAGUE
17 February 2018
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About Rob
Rob is a TV producer, reporter and camera operator with 30 years of experience at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITN, in news, factual and documentary production. He is a four-time award winner, whose awards include a coveted Royal Television Society award for his work on Channel 4 News. His association with the Maritime Foundation goes back to 1995 when he won the first Desmond Wettern Maritime Media Award for a series of reports that led to a major documentary on the loss of the bulk carrier Derbyshire.