By Cameron Weston
STATE of the art police patrol boats will soon be cutting through the water of Port Phillip Bay, after four of the high-speed vessels were delivered to the police last week.
One of the boats will be based at Williamstown and will be assigned to cover the Port of Melbourne.
The other three will be based at Victoria’s other major ports of Hastings, Geelong and Portland.
The boats are built for speed and performance and will be clearing marked as police craft to ensure a visible presence on the water.
Patrols using the new boats, which are 7.5 metres long and capable of a top speed of 35 knots, will be conducted in the bay and the lower reaches of the Yarra River.
Senior Sergeant Tim Tully from the water police said the new boats would give police enhanced capabilities when responding to an emergency call.
He said response times for water-based situations are expected to fall dramatically as the new boats are used.
“The water police has doubled in size and strength to take on the port security role and develop a better counter-terrorism capability,” Snr Sgt Tully said.
“It allows us to have a dedicated patrol boat for the Port of Melbourne.”
Snr Sgt Tully said the new boats were part of a wider push within police to increase capabilities.
A key technology on the new boats is side-scanning sonar, a cutting edge technology that allows police to see the outline of the seabed and to detect and clear threats.
“We’re actually leading the world with regards to that capacity,” he said.
He said the new boat at Williamstown will effectively be like a “divvy van on the water”.
