The Marine Unit, formerly the Australian Customs Service National Marine Unit, is a division of the

Australian Border Force The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs (Australia), Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control, border enforcement, investigations, comp ...

which acts as a Coast Guard in guarding Australia's coast. The Marine Unit focuses on surveillance and response activities within the Australian

Economic Exclusion Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including e ...

, and the operation and training of ships and crews to do so.

Operations

The CMU and the Border Protection Division (formerly known as

Coastwatch The Australian Coastal Surveillance Organisation, also known as Coastwatch, was an operational division of the Australian Customs Service and the de facto Australian Coast guard, coast guard service. The former Coastwatch Division is now part o ...

) make up the Customs contribution to

Maritime Border Command The Maritime Border Command (MBC) is Australia's principal civil maritime security agency, a de facto coast guard, operating in the maritime domain to ensure compliance with Australia's maritime legislation by foreign and domestic non-state actors ...

, a joint

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

with the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

and incorporating assets from the

Australian Fisheries Management Authority The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources including combating illegal fishing activities in the Australian Fishing Zone tha ...

, the

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

, and state-level agencies. Maritime Border Command is responsible for protecting Australia's maritime areas, offshore assets, and external territories from threats, including the

exploitation of natural resources The exploitation of natural resources describes using natural resources, often non-renewable or limited, for economic growth or development. Environmental degradation, human insecurity, and social conflict frequently accompany natural resource ex ...

, people smuggling, importation or exportation of drugs and other illegal items, piracy, and terrorism.

Facilities

The

maintains a permanent base of operations for the Marine Unit at the

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is the most northerly port in Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay, and East Arm Wharf. Since 2015, the port has bee ...

East Arm Wharf.

Ships

Ships operated by the CMU have been given the prefix Australian Border Force Cutter (ABFC) since the creation of the

. Ships were previously referred to as Australian Customs Vessels (ACVs).

Current ships

The largest ship in the

fleet is the offshore patrol vessel ABFC ''Ocean Shield'', which entered service in June 2012 and is a sister ship to ADV ''Ocean Protector''. ABFC ''Thaiyak'' is a unique vessel delivered in June 2014 intended to replace the ACV ''Ashmore Guardian'' for use around the

Ashmore and Cartier Islands The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an uninhabited Australian States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory consisting of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs (Ashmore and Cartier), ...

. In addition, charter arrangements give Customs access to an additional twenty vessels of various sizes and types; these are called on when required to transport apprehended foreign fishermen and illegal entrants, or tow captured vessels. The Australian Border Force announced life extension work for two remaining

Bay-class patrol boat The Bay class is a class of eight armed patrol boats, built by Austal and used by the Customs Marine Unit of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. They entered service during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and are primarily used ...

s and mid-life cycle works for the

Cape-class patrol boat The Cape class is a ship class of 22 large patrol boats operated by the Marine Unit of the Australian Border Force, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard. Ordered in 2011, the vessels were built by Austal ...

Small boats

In 2017

signed contracts to acquire 13 new harbour and coastal patrol boats. These vessels are stationed around the country and are used for a variety of operations including coastal patrol, surveillance and drug interdiction. File:Rottnest Island, Fremantle, 2021 (03).jpg, ABF boat ''Rottnest Island'', Fremantle File:Pilbara Coast, Fremantle, 2020 (01).jpg, An ABF harbour patrol vessel, ''Pilbara Coast'', Fremantle, 2020 File:Australian Border Force rigid hulled inflatable boat Rottnest Island near Kwinana Bulk Terminal, August 2021 06.jpg, Australian Border Force rigid-hulled inflatable boat ''Rottnest Island'' near Kwinana Bulk Terminal, August 2021

Future ships

The

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) has procured 6 Evolved Cape-class patrol vessels to act as a

stopgap {{Short pages monitor