His Majesty's Coastguard

His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is the section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. Since 2015 it has also been responsible for land-based search and rescue helicopter operations.

The chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is Virginia McVea.

His Majesty's Coastguard is a uniformed service that fulfils six of the nine functions required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO):

• Search and Rescue
• Pollution Response
• Vessel Traffic Management
• Maritime Safety
• Accident and Disaster Response
• Maritime Security

The other three IMO functions; Customs/Border Control, Fisheries Control and Law Enforcement, are undertaken by the UK Border Force, Marine Management Organisation and local police forces, respectively. The maintenance of seamarks is the responsibility of Trinity House (in England and Wales), the Northern Lighthouse Board (in Scotland) and the Commissioners of Irish Lights (in Northern Ireland). HM Coastguard is a civilian agency, unlike other coastguard services around the world, as the duties traditionally associated with a military coastguard service are spread around the UK Civil Service and British Armed Forces. It is a Category 1 emergency responder alongside the United Kingdom's regional police, fire, and ambulance services as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Lifeboat services are provided by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, or other independent lifeboat stations not affiliated with the RNLI, all under the coordination of the Coastguard. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency wet leases commercial aircraft for HM Coastguard operations — Sikorsky S-92s, AgustaWestland AW189s, and AgustaWestland AW139s — to provide aerial search and rescue coverage around Great Britain and Northern Ireland. HM Coastguard can similarly utilise a range of fixed-wing aircraft such as the Beechcraft King Air, Diamond DA-62, and Piper PA-31 Navajo in reconnaissance, surveillance, and counter-pollution roles. Aeronautical assets are coordinated through the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre based in Fareham, Hampshire, as and when requested by the regional Rescue Coordination Centres. An ocean-going emergency towing vehicle is also operated in areas not served by tug brokers. On the coastline, HM Coastguard maintains a network of cliff and mud rescue teams, composed of around 4,000 volunteers, and can call upon the National Coastwatch Institution which staffs many former Coastguard lookout stations around the coast. It is part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which in itself is an executive agency of the Department for Transport.