New Delhi, Sept. 17: The defence ministry is considering a Coast Guard proposal for permission to board and inspect any vessel in the exclusive economic zone around India?s long coastline after successive threats of oil slicks from ships sunk in its territorial waters.

The Coast Guard has told the government that it needs the authority to intercept vessels for inspections on the basis of ?credible intelligence?. The proposal was initiated during the tenure of George Fernandes in the ministry and the current national security adviser, J.. Dixit, has held a meeting on the subject.

?Even if we check one out of a 1,000 vessels, the message will go out that the several kinds of illegal activities on our maritime shores will not be tolerated in Indian waters,? top Coast Guard sources said today. They say the coast guards of several countries have been vested with such powers.

The sources said there have been instances of foreign vessels having been deliberately sunk in Indian waters to claim insurance. In the last seven years, they said, there have been about 60 such sinkings in Indian waters. This increases the danger from oil spills. This year, eight ships were suspected to have been sunk.

Coast Guard director-general Vice-Admiral A.K. Singh said the force was also preparing to tackle major oil spills and was in the process of inducting three vessels for environmental security needs. The first of these ships, estimated to cost about Rs 300 crore each, will be commissioned by 2006.

Although India?s coasts have been relatively free of oil spills, bilges and slicks have threatened the fragile Sundarbans biosphere reserve on the east coast in the past.

On the western seaboard, an oil tanker, MV Tasman Spirit, spilled 25,000 tonnes of crude oil off Pakistan?s Karachi port.