PASKAL's task is to conduct small-unit maritime military operations that originate from, and return to a river, ocean, swamp, delta or coastline.

PASKAL is an all-male force that was officially established on 1 October 1982, after a five-year setup period, with the purpose of enforcing Malaysia's Exclusive Economic Zone maritime claims through sea, air and land operations.

[1] A few of the unit's members, including, Lieutenant Ismail Safaie, Lt Dya Masri Muhammad and PO Mohammad b Razak travelled on to Coronado, California and Norfolk, Virginia to receive Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training by the US Navy SEALs.

Other PASKAL roles include securing beachheads, deep penetration reconnaissance raids, structure and underwater demolition and sabotage.

PASKAL also handles in-harbour underwater sabotage, ship-boarding assault, Counter-Terrorist missions (CT), infiltration behind enemy lines and mine-clearing.

The training consists of: Besides combat and insertion skills, PASKAL units are able to gather intelligence to provide guidance to commanders in support of their decisions.

Each company is in turn organised roughly along the lines of the US Green Berets' structure of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta Squadron.

Voluntary contributions from the oil consortium and shipping companies ensures that PASKAL has sufficient means to procure specialised weapons and equipment including heavy body armour, ballistic shields, entry tools, tactical vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors that are much more modern and sophisticated in comparison to the other special forces units in the Malaysian armed forces.

Currently, they usually operate American and German-made weaponry, but in the Langkawi Airshow (LIMA 2015) maritime warfare, they used Heckler & Koch weapons, including the HK UMP45 submachine gun, HK416, G36 and a lightweight XM8 assault rifle.

Pictures taken during national day parades including RMN anniversaries as well as LIMA and from local defence magazines indicate the use of the following: PASKAL utilises specialised delivery craft – among others, PASKAL employs high speed inflatable/collapsible subskimmers (also known as UDV – Underwater Delivery Vehicle or Diver Propulsion Device - DPD), for infiltrations into hostile areas.

[18] 18 December 2008 – The Royal Malaysian Navy rescued a Chinese-registered ship, Zhenhua 4 in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, the same day the United Nations Security Council decided to be more assertive against the Somali pirates.

Called on by the Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150), the multinational coalition patrolling the pirate-infested gulf, the RMN's KD Sri Inderasakti dispatched a helicopter (including PASKAL naval commandos) to the scene.

The helicopter fired two warning shots at the pirates' skiff, causing them to call off the attack on the heavy load carrier Zhenhua 4 and flee.

[19][20] 1 January 2009 – PASKAL operatives together with RMN KD Sri Indera Sakti, commanded by Captain Mohamad Adib Abdul Samad experienced its first combat in the new year when its Fennec helicopter drove off two pirate skiffs pursuing Indian-registered crude oil tanker MT Abul Kalam Azad in the Gulf of Aden.

The 92,000-tonne vessel, with 40 crew members, was heading for the Suez Canal with a full load of crude oil, sailing in the gulf at 11.37am (Malaysian time) when it was attacked by pirates in two skiffs.

This was also when it issued a distress signal, which was picked up by Malaysian navy support ship KD Sri Indera Sakti about 15 nautical miles away.

In rapid response, Captain Mohamad Adib dispatched the ship-borne Fennec helicopter gunship armed with twin general purpose machine guns and an elite Naval Special Forces PASKAL airborne sniper.

Teams were deployed to assist the New Zealand Armed Forces in the peacekeeping missions and humanitarian aid at Bamiyan District, Afghanistan.

[23] 20 January 2011 – PASKAL maritime counter-terrorism assault teams successfully thwarted an attempted hijacking by Somali pirates on the Malaysian chemical tanker, MT Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden.

Under the cover of darkness, seven pirates armed with AK-47 assault rifles, light machine guns and pistols suddenly emerged from a skiff boat and began boarding the tanker, firing at random.

The 23 member Bunga Laurel crew consisting of Filipinos and Malaysians was successfully rescued with no casualties, and with no losses to the PASKALs in the battle.

The KA Bunga Mas Lima had just completed the task of escorting the tanker and another MISC liquefied natural gas carrier, MT Seri Balhaf, bound for Fujairah, to a safe zone called Easton 4 in the gulf.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak praised the team for their efficiency in dealing with the crisis; the captured pirates were eventually brought to Malaysia to be tried.

The units, alongside GGK, PASKAU, PGK and UNGERIN play main roles in tracking down and neutralising the Southern Filipino terrorist group.

[27] On 11 June 2015, eight Indonesian pirates hijacked the MT Orkim Harmony, a Malaysian tanker at 8:54 p.m. MST (UTC+08:00) during its way from Malacca to Kuantan Port in the waters of Tanjung Sedili, Kota Tinggi, Johor at 2°8.90′N 104°27.30′E / 2.14833°N 104.45500°E / 2.14833; 104.45500.

[28][31] On 17 June, an Australian air force Lockheed AP-3C Orion reconnaissance plane, flying from its base in Malaysia's northern Penang state, spotted the missing tanker in the Gulf of Thailand within the Cambodian-Vietnamese maritime border.

[35] In reaction to the Australian report, RMN and MMEA vessels, who were put on standby, and Navy counter-terrorism forces PASKAL were deployed to the area and, on 19 June, the tanker was spotted at 9°10′N 103°10′E / 9.167°N 103.167°E / 9.167; 103.167.