Barbados Coast Guard
Encyclopedia
The Barbados Coast Guard is the maritime division of the Barbados Defence Force
Barbados Defence Force
The Barbados Defence Force is the name given to the combined armed forces of Barbados. The BDF was established August 15, 1979, and has responsibility for the territorial defence and internal security of the island. The headquarters for the Barbados Defence Force are located in the St...

. Its responsibilities are patrolling Barbados' territorial waters as well as drug interdiction and humanitarian and life-saving exercises. The Barbados Coast Guard currently is based at its new home at in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. It consists of a small fleet, including its flagship HMBS Trident.

The usual styling for the Barbados Coast Guard is HMBS which stands for His/Her Majesty's Barbadian Ship
Her Majesty's Ship
Her or His Majesty's Ship is the ship prefix used for ships of the navy in some monarchies, either formally or informally.-HMS:* In the British Royal Navy, it refers to the king or queen of the United Kingdom as appropriate at the time...

.

The Marine division of the Royal Barbados Police Force
Royal Barbados Police Force
The Royal Barbados Police Force , as outlined by the Constitution of Barbados is a part of the government responsible for local law enforcement. The Commissioner of the Police force is Darwin Dottin, who also served as the last president of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police...

 is co-located with the Barbados Coast Guard. Additionally, the Coast Guard base is home of the Barbados Cadet Corps Sea Cadets (the marine unit of the Barbados Cadet Corps).

HMBS Pelican can be seen while travelling along the Spring Garden Highway in Barbados. This new base was commissioned in September 2007 and is an ultra modern complex which caters to the maritime operational and training needs of the Barbados Defence Force and the other forces of the Regional Security System.

The Barbados Coast Guard is currently under the command of (OCBCG) Lt. Cdr. E.R. Shurland .

New ships

In 2007 and 2008 the Coast Guard accepted delivery of three Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel
Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel
The Damen Stan Patrol 4100, Damen Stan Patrol 4207 and Damen Stan Patrol 4708 are three related designs from the Damen Group, a Dutch shipbuilding firm.The Stan 4207 design are patrol vessels.They are wide, and can travel at 22 knots....

s, the , and .

Named after the Barbados Defence Force's (BDF) first chief-of-staff Colonel Leonard Banfield, the vessel docked at the HMBS Pelican, the Coast Guard's new headquarters on Spring Garden, St Michael, around 8 a.m. The Dutch vessel, built by Damen Group
Damen Group
Damen is a Dutch shipbuilding company which was founded in 1927 by Jan and Marinus Damen in a self-built workshop. In 1954 their 200th ship was delivered.-History:...

, now takes the Coast Guard's fleet to 11, including the 26-year-old flagship HMBS Trident. "This vessel is a significant addition to the Coast Guard's flotilla and it is expected that it will significantly assist in the safety and security of the waters around Barbados," said Commander Ricky Shurland.

Both the Leonard C. Banfield and the new headquarters were commissioned in a ceremony on September 14, 2007. The new vessel is reported to cost about US$6 million (BDS$12 million).

Military sources said the delivery was the first in a US$37 million package that would include two other vessels of similar class, three 40-foot fast patrol boats, two 30-footers and three 21-foot in-shore patrol craft.

In terms of manpower, the Coast Guard, which now numbers 127 full-time personnel, would be increased at a rate of about 30 per year over the period 2007 to 2011.
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