New Boat Motors To Aid Coast Guard

Thanks to a donation of five outboard motors by the Taiwanese Embassy, the Golfito Coast Guard will soon have five more boats at its disposal for its operations in the Golfo Dulce and the waters off the southern Pacific coast, Golfito Coast Guard Director Carlos Alvarado told The Tico Times Tuesday.

Alvarado said the motors, donated early last month, will allow the Coast Guard to add five more boats, between 18-30 feet long, to its fleet.

The National Coast Guard Service recently launched an intensive operation off the southern Pacific coast spanning four days and inspecting 17 boats, the Public Security Ministry said in a statement Feb. 20. According to Alvarado, new boats will allow the Coast Guard to expand operations such as these.

Throughout the four days, Coast Guard officials checked whether ships were up-todate with permits and were environmentally sound and safe for tourists. The patrols began in the Golfo Dulce, DrakeBay, Isla del Caño,MarinoBallenaNational Park and Dominical, all on the southern Pacific.

Under the direction of the Golfito Coast Guard Station, officials from the Coast Guard, the Paso Canoas Immigration Office and the Golfito Port Captain’s Office, 17 ships were boarded and inspected. All fishing vessels had the proper fishing equipment, the statement said. For example, the shrimp boats, often criticized for their accidental catch of sea turtles, all had the mandatory equipment that allows the turtles to escape from their nets.

One of the Coast Guard ships patrolled the waters near Isla del Caño, an island and biological reserve off the coast of Drake Bay, in southern Costa Rica, enforcing a recently published regulation limiting how close tourist boats can get to dolphins and whales. According to the statement, no infractions were cited.

Jefrey Orozco, an Immigration official involved in the operation, said that thanks to these regular patrols, tourism and fishing companies continually abide more closely by the law, noting that all foreigners aboard both fishing and tourism boats had valid Immigration documents.