In Koper, a new police boat was inaugurated on 3 December 2009. It will be used for surveillance of the sea border. It was given the designation P-89.
The boat was presented to the public at the pier in front of the Slovenian Maritime Administration in Koper by Božidar Štemberger, Director of the Koper Police Directorate, Tatjana Bobnar, Deputy Director General of Police, and Zlatko Dolič, commander of Koper Maritime Police Station.
In her address before the launching of the boat, Tatjana Bobnar, Deputy Director General of Police, the ship's patron, said that Koper Maritime Police Station is a modern unit organised to European standards. "Due to the nature of its work, the station is very specific and in fact represents the only protection of the Schengen zone's maritime border in Slovenia, the only station in the country to take on the responsibility of protecting and controlling the EU's external sea border."
The P-89 boat is an important acquisition for the maritime police and will contribute to more efficient protection of the sea border. It has excellent manoeuvrability, is constructed for safe offshore navigation and has a closed cockpit that enables it to be used in any weather conditions. The boat is also equipped with a highly efficient navigation system for simultaneous tracking of several vessels.
As is the custom in the navy, at the end of the ceremony, its patron wished the new boat calm waters and that it would "be of good service to the Slovenian police."
Along the 43-kilometre Slovenian coast, the Koper Maritime Police Station protects the Slovenian sea border and performs border control at three border-crossings for international maritime transport: Koper, Izola and Piran. It also supervises vessels in domestic and international voyages and focuses on violations of other Acts i.e. the Nature Conservation Act, the Maritime Code, the Marine Fisheries Act and the Protection against Drowning Act.