Bermuda’s first coastguard unit was launched yesterday in the West End.

A vacant former police barracks, Watford House at Malabar in Somerset, has been repurposed as the command centre for the unit.

It will consist of 16 members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s boat troop and seven police officers.

Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, hailed the launch as “a significant milestone”.

The unit will run jointly for a year under the operational control of the Bermuda Police Service.

It will provide 24-hour service during the summer boating season, including support for races, as well as dealing with marine distress incidents or disasters such as oil spills.

The unit is to support departments such as customs, immigration, fisheries and marine and ports, as well as fire and police services.

Mr Caines said members would receive “the very best training with both the US and UK coast guard”.

The launch coincided with a visit by a senior Royal Air Force officer.

Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Parker, the Defence Attaché and Head of British Defence Staff in the United States, arrived while the Royal Navy Ship HMS Medway called on the island.

He attended the launch with John Rankin, the Governor, Police Commissioner Stephen Corbishley, Collector of Customs Lucinda Pearman, and Constance Dierman, the US Consul General.

Mr Rankin thanked the teams that worked to realise the “longstanding” aim of establishing a Bermuda coastguard.

He said: “We are blessed to live on this island surrounded by our beautiful waters.

“The Bermuda coastguard will serve to protect and preserve those waters, helping to maintain the island’s compliance with international maritime regulations and helping to ensure that people in Bermuda, and those visiting Bermuda, can continue to travel through our waters safely.”

The island’s marine police, which began patrolling in the 1960s, fulfilled many of the roles of a coastguard.

The marine unit teamed up with the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s boat troop after a memorandum of understanding in 2010, with the regiment unit gradually assuming a broader role in marine policing.

Private Keijon Goins, 24, formerly of the RBR Boat Troop, said he was “very pleased to see all this come together”.

He added: “All these long days of training have paid off — I would definitely want to do this full time.”

Mr Goins, from Pembroke, who works at the Loren resort, added: “All this wouldn’t have been possible without the regiment. Before I joined, I was unemployed and the regiment helped me out.

“You get a lot of training and certifications — and I didn’t have to pay for them. We have a great group. We’re close together and we work things out between us.”

Lance Corporal Taneah Bean, 31, a commercial diver and security officer from Pembroke, said: “It’s time — it’s definitely useful and we definitely need it.

“If the opportunity presented itself, I would go full time. I’ve got a lot out of the Regiment in the four years I’ve been in it. I’ve bettered myself, I’m not as complacent and I’m more alert.

“It’s helped me to be more professional and I’ve gained qualifications.”