All German coast guard vessels carry the identification KÜSTENWACHE on their hulls as well as the black, red and gold Federal colors and the coat of arms shown on the front page of this brochure. The coat of arms also forms part of the enforcement officiers uniforms.Distinguishing marks of all ships working for the CG are the logos "Küstenwache", the black/red/gold stripes on the ship's hull and the emblem shown on the shield.

In principle, each participating agency performs is own official functions. It may, hoever, request support from the other Küstenwache vessels in case a dangerous situation arise requiring an immediate response. For that purpose, the "Gemeinsame Lagezentrum See" continuously monitor the operations of all Küstenwache vessels and coordinate the required measures.

The Federal Waterways and Shipping Adminstration has four seagoing multi-purpose vessels carrying special contaminant and fire fighting equipment, which are capable of deployment in explosive and toxic atmospheres due to their gas and explosion protected design. The Federal Police (BPOL), with 6 vessels and 8 helicopters capabel of operation at sea, and the customs authority with 11 vessels, take part in sea surveillance and the prosecution of environmental polluters.

The Federal Waterway and Shipping Adminstration, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, is responsible for providing safe shipping routes and ensuring the safety and ease of shipping. The tasks of Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Nord and Nordwest (Water and Shipping Directorate North and Northwest) and of the Waterways and Shipping Offices supervised by it, which are responsible for the German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, encompass the development and maintenance of the Federal waterways, installation and operation of navigational aids, removal of shipping obstructions, investigation of marine casualties, supervision of pilot services, as well as vessel traffic and information services using latest state-of-the-art technology.

This police task is performed by the Federal Police, which is the enforcement agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The German sea frontiers are protected by the Federal Police District Office Sea (Bundespolizeiamt See) and the Federal Police Air Support Unit North/Fuhlendorf, which are supervised by the Federal Police Regional Headquarters North. The protection of the German sea frontiers includes the interdiction of the illegal migrants at the sea and the combatting of criminal organizations smuggling illegal aliens into the country.

The responsible authority in this sector is the Federal Institute of Agriculture and Food, which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry. The Institute has three vessels performing fishery surveillance tasks. Its main tasks is to check compliance with technical regulations aimed at protecting fish stocks, especially with regard to minimum mesh sizes and type of fishing gear, minimum sizes of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and to check the observance of fishing bans and restrictions imposed on certain harvesting and fish processing practices. Within the framework of an administrative arrengement the Customs and Federal Police vessels can also be used for fishery surveillance operations.

The Customs tasks relating to the sea frontiers come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Finance and are performed by local principal customs authorities and customs offices, which are supervised by the regional financed offices. High speed customs cruisers carrying daugther boats check the movement of goods across the customs frontiers of the European Union and ensure that import and export duties are duly levied. In addition, compliance with excisting bans and restrictions on goods movement is checked, especially with a view to drugs, explosives, and war weapons.