The Greek Shipowners’ Association has donated ten new Rafnar maritime boats to the Greek coastguard to help the country stop illegal immigration to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
The group donated the Rafnar 1100 Cabin Bulletproof speedboats this week as Greece continues to see migrants arrive on the various islands located near Turkey. The ships themselves will be designed in Iceland and built in Greece and boast engines capable of 450 horsepower each and will carry a 12.7mm machine-gun.
The donation of the boats was welcomed by Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who said, “I would like to thank the Hellenic Shipowners’ Association for their prompt response to our request to strengthen the Coast Guard.”
“The donation of 10 new fully equipped boats will essentially help to more effectively control our maritime borders. At a time when I don’t need to tell you, it’s extremely critical. These vessels, from what I have been informed, will be the most modern that the Coast Guard will have, with full equipment, with thermal cameras and with the possibility to respond to the most adverse conditions,” he said.
The strengthening of the coast guard comes as Greece looks to maintain border security due to a predicted new wave of migrants in the near future.
Prior to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, the Turkish regime of Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had opened the gates to Europe for tens of thousands of migrants and the Turkish authorities were accused of helping them across the border into Greece by arming them and destroying border fencing.
The pandemic forced the Turkish regime to close the gates but they have made it clear that migrants will return to the border when the global health crisis ends.
While Turkey officially moved migrants from the border area in late March, some have voiced concerns that the country could purposely send migrants to Greece infected with the coronavirus. Earlier this month two migrants who landed on the island of Lesbos tested positive for the disease.