TheMaritime Gendarmerie (French:Gendarmerie maritime) is a component of the FrenchNational Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of theFrench Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and high-speed motorboats distributed on the littoral waterways of France.[3] Like their land-based colleagues the Gendarmes Maritime are military personnel who carry out policing operations in addition to their primary role as acoast guard service. They also carry outprovost duties within theFrench Navy.
The uniforms and insignia of the Gendarmerie Maritime are very similar to those of the French Navy, but the ranks used are those of the rest of the Gendarmerie (which are the same as the traditional ranks of the French Cavalry).
The Maritime Gendarmerie is commanded by a colonel who is assisted by a staff located in Paris. The coastguard is divided into 3 groupings, 7 companies and 64 units (brigades of research, brigades of monitoring of the littoral, group of safety of the protected zones, group of monitoring of intervention and reinforcement, patrol craft, coastal high-speed motorboats of maritime surveillance) whose geographical distribution is as follows:[3]
Metropolitan France :
grouping of the English Channel and the North Sea in Cherbourg (2 companies)
grouping of the Atlantic in Brest (4 companies);
grouping of the Mediterranean in Toulon (2 companies);
company from Paris to the Career-on-Seine (under the authority of the headquarters);
national instruction center of the GM (C.N.I.G.M) in Toulon.
French Guiana: 2 high-speed 20-metre motorboats (Charente andOrganabo);
Mayotte: 2 high-speed 20-metre patrol boatsVerdon[6] andOdet (replaced byAdour in early 2025 due to damage to both byCyclone Chido in December 2024)[7][8][9]
Two members of the Maritime Gendarmerie in a rubber boat.
Commissioned officers are recruited from holders of a master's degree; non-commissioned officers from holders of a high school diploma giving access to university studies; auxiliary gendarmes are recruited without any specific educational prerequisite. Members of the maritime gendarmerie are recruited among officers, nco's and auxiliary gendarmes with a few years of general gendarmerie service. Certificate of competency for sea or inland water navigation and training in scuba diving is a merit for those who wants to join. Within the maritime gendarmerie there exists further specializations such as coxswain, mechanic, diver, underwater investigation technician, maritime and port security operative and watch-keeping officer.[10][11][12]
Former Directorate for Maritime Affairs vessel based in Cherbourg pending arrival of PCG-NG boats starting 2025[14][15]
PCG-NG class
Patrol boat
P727Rozel P728Beuzeval (crewed by French Navy)
350 tonnes
P727 based in Cherbourg, to be joined by P-728 (tasked to the navy) in 2026;[16][17][18] up to four more vessels planned to replaceGéranium andJonquille classes between 2026 and 2029[19][20][21]
As of 2023: 11 units reported based in the Atlantic/English Channel/North Sea region; 7 in the Mediterranean; 2 in French Guiana; 2 in Mayotte; 1 in New Caledonia (one vessel -Mahury, P623 - reported unserviceable as of late 2022;[26][27][28]Odet andVerdon - P602 & P611 - reportedly damaged "beyond repair" in Mayotte byCyclone Chido in December 2024; replaced by P603Adour in early 2025)[7][8][29]
^Le lieutenant-colonel Ebel."La gendarmerie de la restauration au second empire".La société nationale de l’histoire et du patrimoine de la gendarmerie - société des amis du musée de la gendarmerie (in French). Retrieved1 February 2021.
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Maritime Gendarmerie
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