He said: "They each have two Yamaha outboard motors and are capable of traveling at over 50 miles per hour. They are also equipped with heavy machine guns and steel-plate armour."

Recently the Burmese government declared that it would form a police coastguard to patrol both sea and river borders.

The defense official said that the government planned to deploy more such boats on the Naff River which demarcates the border between Burma and Bangladesh. The boats will also be used to help the police track down drugs and arms smugglers, people traffickers and terrorists.