The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) ( nl, Kustwacht Caribisch Gebied (''KWCARIB'')) is the

coast guard 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 ...

of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

in the

Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...

. The unit is a joint effort between all constituent countries within the Kingdom. Prior to the

dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010. After dissolution, the "BES islands" of the Dutch Caribbean— Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba—becam ...

, it was known as the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Coast Guard (NA&A CG) and was a division of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Tasks

* Detection and control: drugs, border control, customs control at sea, fisheries and environmental surveillance and monitoring of safe shipping. * Services: continuous occupation and Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), handling of maritime distress and safety

radio communications Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

, search and rescue (SAR) and supporting maritime contingency.

Organization

DCCG is a partnership between Aruba,

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...

, Curaçao, and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The staff of the Coast Guard is composed of all constituent countries. DCCG is a Kingdom organization directly under the State Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. The Commander of the Naval Forces of the Royal Netherlands Navy in the Caribbean (CZMCARIB) is also the director of DCCG.

Policy

Ministries from the four parts of the kingdom determine the policy of the Coast Guard. To streamline policy formulation the Coast Guard's Commission has been formed. This committee consists of officials from different ministries. The Coast Guard Commission also ensures budgets and annual reports. The judicial policy of the Coast Guard is determined by the three Ministers of Justice of the countries of the Kingdom. Controlling the Coast Guard executive in judicial matters is done through the Prosecutors-General of Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, and the Netherlands. The Secretary of Defense is on behalf of the State Ministers in charge of managing and controlling DCCG.

Coast Guard support centers

DCCG has three Coast Guard support centers: on Aruba, Curaçao and

. From here, the Coast Guard patrol boats patrol in the waters around the islands. The flying units of the Coast Guard are stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Hato, Curaçao. The Coast Guard Center / RCC itself is located in Curaçao, at the Parera naval base.

Units

DCCG has its own units and also makes use of defense resources (mainly from the RNLN, a ship and staff). DCCG has several private owned types of patrol boats, cutters and

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

Cutters

Stan Patrol P810 Jaguar Dutch Caribbean Coastguard

The three Coast Guard cutters, the ''Jaguar'', the ''Panther'' and ''Puma'', are Damen Stan 4100 patrol vessels. They are designed for service in the coastal waters of the Caribbean islands. The cutters are suitable for carrying out all coast guard tasks. With the onboard

RHIB A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...

, boarding operations can be performed. The cutter is over long, has a crew of eleven and a speed exceeding . Each boat has

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

infrared cameras Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

, night vision binoculars, an

ion scanner Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an analytical technique used to separate and identify ionized molecules in the gas phase based on their mobility in a carrier buffer gas. Though heavily employed for military or security purposes, such as detect ...

, a fixed 12.7 mm

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

and a rotatable water cannon. Furthermore, they are equipped with photographic and video equipment to collect evidence.

Inshore boats

The inshore boats are mostly deployed within a mile from the coast. The boats of the type RHIB Sea 700 are in service in the Coast Guard since September 13, 1997. They have a curb and therefore very suitable for carrying out boarding operations on other boats without damaging them. In addition, the boats, with a speed above , are very quick and well able to chase suspicious boats and arrest suspects. The Coast Guard has six of these boats.

Super RHIBS

The Coast Guard has twelve Super

Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are ...

s, or SuperRhibs. These high-speed boats, capable of speeds in excess of and highly maneuverable, are very suitable for carrying out boarding operations. The crew of the SuperRHIB can be up to six people. The SuperRHIBs have a length of , a width of , a height of and a weight of . Whereas the inshore boats operate mostly close to shore, the SuperRHIBs operate at much wider and longer distance at sea. The inboard diesel engines and the longer form of the hull allow the SuperRHIB to deal with even worse weather conditions while maintaining good sailing characteristics.

AgustaWestland AW139

The DCCG employs two

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139 is a medium-lift twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, later wholly owned by Leonardo S.p.A. It is marketed at several different roles, including V ...

helicopters for high speed chase, and search and rescue operations. The AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters are stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Hato and will be replaced by AgustaWestland AW189 in 2023.

Bombardier Dash 8

Since the autumn of 2007, the DCCG has two

Bombardier Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

Maritime Patrol Aircraft (designated MPA-D8). These planes are built to the specific needs of DCCG, based on the Coast Guard tasks such as search and rescue, and fisheries and environmental monitoring. These two Dash 8 aircraft equipped with modern means of day and at night to obtain optimal results in the performance of its duties. These resources include specially designed hatches dropping life rafts and drift / marker buoys, a high power

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

in the nose of the aircraft with the aim to see and be seen in search situations,

, and a communication and interlink software system. All these resources make it the ideal airplane in a coordinating role between various units and the RCC. Besides these functions, both Dash 8s can be deployed before, during and after hurricane passages to move people and resources to those areas that need help. For these missions the Dash 8s can be converted into transport aircraft configurations.

West Indies Guard Ship

The West Indies Guard Ship (WIGS) is a ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy that rotates about every six months. It can be a frigate but more commonly one of the Navy's Holland-class offshore patrol vessels is deployed to the region.This vessel usually carries an NHIndustries NH90 helicopter for search and rescue tasks and pursuit of suspect vessels. A special boarding team from the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

can be embarked on board the WIGS, authorized to carry out boardings beyond the territorial waters of the Dutch Caribbean islands. This cooperation between Aruba, Curaçao, the

, Sint Maarten, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and other actors is formalized in the

Joint Interagency Task Force South Joint Interagency Task Force South is a United States multiservice, multiagency task force based at Naval Air Station Key West (Truman Annex), Key West, Florida. It conducts counter illicit trafficking operations, intelligence fusion and multi-s ...

, situated in Key West, Florida, United States.

Personnel

DCCG has approximately 160 personnel. Of these, 140 come from Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, and 20 from the Royal Netherlands Navy. These 160 consist mostly of personnel actually deployed to carry out operations and the occupation of the Coast Guard bases. In addition, there are about 15 employees who staff the Operations Center / RCC 24 hours a day.

Ranks

;Officer ranks ;Enlisted ranks

References

External links

* {{Coast guards Coast guards

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

Emergency management in the Netherlands Disaster preparedness in the Caribbean