The German Federal Coast Guard () is a civilian law enforcement organisation whose primary missions are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcement. The ''Küstenwache'' is an association of several federal agencies, not a single entity like the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. The agencies that make up the ''Küstenwache'' have a common plan of action and direct their operations from two Coast Guard Centers (German: ''Küstenwachzentren''), Neustadt (Holstein) for the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

for the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Structure and responsibilities

Since 2007 the Joint Situation Center Sea (GLZ-See) is in service. GLZ-See is coordinating the operational units of the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

(Küstenwache) and the coastal states of Germany (

Wasserschutzpolizei The (, WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German language, German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the (State Police). The Federal Po ...

). Units and personnel from these federal agencies make up the coast guard: * '' Bundespolizei'' (Federal Police),

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

* Waterways and Shipping Offices, Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV), Federal Ministry for Transport, Construction and Urban Development * ''Kontrolleinheit See'' (Maritime Customs Service), Federal Customs Administration, Federal Ministry of Finance * Federal Agency for Agriculture and Nutrition (BLE), Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture

Coast guard personnel

The personnel serving with the ''Küstenwache'' include both police officers (in the case of the '' Bundespolizei'' and ''Wasserzoll'') and civilians from the Waterways and Shipping Office and other agencies. ''Küstenwache'' personnel do not have

combatant Combatant is the legal status of a person entitled to directly participate in hostilities during an armed conflict, and may be intentionally targeted by an adverse party for their participation in the armed conflict. Combatants are not afforded i ...

status as it is not a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

unit as many other

coast guards A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

are. In contrast, the

is both a

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

and a law enforcement organisation and its commissioned officers have both police and military powers. However, police officers serving with the ''Küstenwache'' retain their usual police powers, adjusted to the maritime nature of their job.

Ships and other vessels

A total of 27 ships and boats from the aforementioned institutions are in operation (''Bundespolizei'': six ships; ''Wasserzoll'': eight customs cutters, four customs cruisers; WSV: three multi-purpose ships; BLE: two fishery protection boats, three fishery research ships). The ships are all marked with the legend "Küstenwache" as well as a black-red-gold signet on the hull and the coast guard's

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achiev ...

. However, the hull colour differs from agency to agency: blue for the ''Bundespolizei'', green for the ''Zoll'' and black for the WSV and BLE. A number of helicopters and planes are in use as well. Some Ships: *BP 24 ''Bad Bramstedt'' *BP 25 ''Bayreuth'' *BP 26 ''Eschwege'' *BP 81 ''Potsdam'' *BP 82 ''Bamberg'' *BP 83 ''Bad Düben'' *MS ''Priwall'' *MS ''Kalkgrund'' *FSB ''Seeadler'' * ''Hamburg'' *SUBS ''Mellum''

Ranks

File:Dienstgradabzeichen wasserzoll.jpg, Official titles (ranks): From top to bottom; middle service to senior service.

References

External links