In addition to the usual tasks of a green water navy, the Colombian Navy (Spanish: Armada de la República de Colombia - "ARC") also performs coast guard duties, has shared responsibility for patrolling the extensive Colombian network of rivers, and includes the Marine Infantry (IM).

Furthermore, its littoral/riverine component is relatively large when compared with the more traditional navies of other countries.

Due to this aggregation of duties, some vessels perform routinely and indistinctly as coast guard/combat patrol, particularly those mid-size, lightly armed vessels, and can occasionally be found classified as either Surface combat or Coast Guard or even Logistics/General transport across different sources, even in official documents from the ARC itself.

Also, many of the lighter patrol/harbor patrol boats may be assigned or reassigned duties across the different branches with little or no notice depending on service needs.

As the ARC has embarked in a program of modernization since 2000, a better separation and categorization of the different vessels has ensued, with many vessels being re-numbered or reclassified, which makes for occasionally conflicting references.