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.[citation needed]
Coast Guard support centers
DCCG has three Coast Guard support centers: on Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Cutters
The three Coast Guard cutters, the Jaguar, the Panther and Puma, are Damen Stan 4100 patrol vessels.[6] 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, boarding operations can be performed. The cutter is over 41 metres (135 ft) long, has a crew of eleven and a speed exceeding 26 knots (48 km/h).
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 40 knots (74 km/h), are very quick and well able to chase suspicious boats and arrest suspects. The Coast Guard has six of these boats.[citation needed]
Super RHIBS
The Coast Guard has twelve Super Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats, or SuperRhibs. These high-speed boats, capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots (74 km/h) 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 12.2 metres (40 ft), a width of 3.3 metres (11 ft), a height of 3.3 metres (11 ft) and a weight of 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg). 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.[citation needed]
Since the autumn of 2007, the DCCG has two Bombardier Dash 8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (designated MPA-D8). These planes are built to the specific needs of DCCG, based on required Coast Guard tasks such as search and rescue, and fisheries and environmental monitoring. These two Dash 8 turboprop aircraft are equipped with modern day and night capabilities in order to obtain optimal results in the performance of their duties. These resources include specially designed hatches for dropping life rafts and drift / marker buoys, a high power searchlight in the nose of the aircraft with the aim to see and be seen in search situations, radar, and a communication and interlink software system. All these resources make the Dash 8 an 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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]