That of two underwater floats (SWATH) worn ship designed ship was under the hull number 563 of the Emden shipyard and Dockbetrieben in Emden to put Kiel and completed of 2010. The baptism took Gudrun Koschyk, wife of Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance Hartmut Koschyk, 3 February 2010 to representatives from politics, business and administration in Emden ago.
The Borkum is after her sister ship Helgoland (put into service in August 2009), the second duty ship in SWATH design and after presentation of the agency "thus currently the most advanced use of means of customs at sea". Because of their double-hull construction, both SWATH ships have better sea characteristics than monohull ships of the same size. According to the authorities, comparable swell properties would only be achieved with conventional ships from a length of around 100 meters, both the Borkum and the Helgoland are only half as long. Similar concepts for use in the southern North Sea , which is sometimes known for difficult sea conditions , were also pursued with other ships, such as the Emden pilot transfer boat of the same name or the research ship of the Deutsche Marine Planet , which was also built by the Emden Nordseewerke.
The Borkum is part of the federal coast guard and in addition to customs duties in the German Bight, it also performs environmental protection, shipping police enforcement and fisheries control.