It is responsible for the provision of coastguard services throughout the Isle of Man, an independent Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland.

[3] The Isle of Man Government subsequently contracted with HM Coastguard for the provision of air-sea rescue services, but maintained its claim of self-determination in respect of its territorial waters.

Negotiations with the United Kingdom on this point led to the Isle of Man Government formally purchasing its own territorial waters in 1991.

In 2013, owing to insufficient numbers to maintain the service, the Coastguard began a recruitment drive in the southern part of the island.

From 1989 to 2009 all 999 (emergency telephone number) calls were diverted to the United Kingdom and answered by HM Coastguard's operations room at Liverpool.

[11] The Chief Coastguard Officer stated that handling calls locally, rather than through a control room in the United Kingdom, maintained the integrity of the IOM service, provided operators with a higher degree of local knowledge, and removed a "dog leg" from the system of responding to emergency calls.

A considerable quantity of equipment is maintained at each station from rescue tools, winches, and medical supplies, to uniform items.