Coast Guard Still Without Larger Patrol Boats

Earlier this year, the Belize Coast Guard aimed to boost its capabilities by trying to buy two patrol boats worth eight million US dollars. These Sea Axe Class vessels are much larger than the Boston Whalers they currently use. Commandant Rear Admiral Elton Bennett mentioned that they had been in discussions to acquire the boats, but the ones shown by the boatbuilder didn’t meet their needs. As a result, the Coast Guard will be looking for other options.

 

Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“We had a tenure earlier this year. We decided not to accept any of the submissions that were made. They did not meet our criteria, so we went back to the drawing table and we’re going to re-tender to try to get the best that we can. So, we will be sending out a tender again for that. This is a eight U.S. million-dollar tender and the submission that were made from the shipyards did not satisfy our needs, therefore we decided not to accept any of them.”