COAST GUARD

The Coast Guard of MIA Border plays a vital role in ensuring the country's maritime security. It performs complex tasks related to maritime security and controls the legal regime established in the maritime space of Georgia. The Coast Guard also participates in the search and-rescue and emergency-rescue operations at sea.

The history of the Georgian Coast Guard dates back to 1998. On July 16th, a complex, pre-prepared plan was launched to ensure the protection and control of the state maritime border. The Coast Guard units were developing rapidly. The fleet grew more powerful from year to year: in addition to the vessels procured by the State budget, the Coast Guard also included ships and boats donated by our partners - the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Turkey and Ukraine.

After the Russian-Georgian War in 2008, the infrastructure and fleet of the Coast Guard Department and Naval Forces were partially destroyed. By the end of 2008, one of the most crucial stages of the Coast Guard transformation took place. Following the changes made in the “Law of Georgia on Defence”, the Naval Force was integrated into the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard Department has worked closely with the United States since 1998, the earliest days of its history. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a history of successful cooperation with the United States of America. Under the auspices of the Georgian Border Security and Law enforcement program (GBSLE), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program, the Coast Guard has implemented several major projects, including receiving new maritime platforms, fleet modernization, construction of the Coast Guard stations, Shipbuilding Facility and new boat basin in Batumi. The above-mentioned projects aims to increase the Coast Guard capacity and capabilities develop its infrastructure, train the personnel, etc.

The U.S. support for equipping Coast Guard Boarding Teams is vital. In 2017, two Boarding Teams joined the NATO Operational Capability Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme (OCC E&F). Boarding Teams certification process involved two levels and four steps (SEL1, NEL1, SEL2, NEL2) of evaluation. The programme aimed to increase interoperability with the NATO Naval Forces. From 2021 important steps has been made: The GBP CG VBSS Teams (Tactical Units) successfully accomplished NATO OCC E&F evaluation 4 year process, which paved the way to Georgia's Operational partner status to NATO-led maritime security operation ''Sea Guardian''. The North Atlantic Council (NAC) granted Georgia Operational Partner Status to the Operational Sea Guardian (OSG).

Currently, evaluation process of two Vessels of Georgian Coast Guard Department is ongoing in the framework of NATO Operational Capability Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme. The aim of this process is successful completion of the evaluation process and receiving NATO Response Force Status.

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Project on the Black Sea is actively ongoing, which aims to increase the capabilities of the Coast Guard Department. The Project includes several stages which is implemented by the coordination of the Office of Defence Cooperation (ODC) of the US Embassy and by US NAVAL FORCES EUROPE (USNAVEUR). The above-mentioned project aims renovation of navigation and automatic identification systems, radio-communication means and maritime surveillance systems at Coast Guard stations and on the vessels. In addition, the project of development of underwater Security Capabilities is ongoing, which aims to equip Coast Guard by the stationary and mobile underwater surveillance systems and train the personnel.

The history of cooperation with NATO Joint Maritime Command dates back to 2010. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Border Police and the NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM), which significantly expanded the areas of cooperation. Based on the Government Decree, the procedure for issuing diplomatic permits was simplified procedures for the permanent maritime units of the Alliance to enter into the territorial waters and ports of Georgia.

In the framework of improving Coast Guard fleet operational Capabilities, in 2018, the United States of America granted Georgia 2 Island Class Patrol Boats.

In 2022, Operational Capabilities of Georgian Coast Guard of MIA Border Police of Georgia were increased by commissioning of 4 “Defender” type modern patrol boat. Acquisition and handing over of the boats was implemented in the framework of the “SAFE” Project, by the financial support of European Union (EU) and with the coordination of International Organization of Migration in Georgia. New Boats are equipped with modern navigation, maritime monitoring and communication systems. The assignment of the Boats is to patrol, response, port security, law enforcement and to implement search and rescue operations.

JOINT MARITIME OPERATIONS CENTRE

The Joint Maritime Operations Centre (JMOC) was built on the base of the MIA Border Police Coast Guard Department under the auspices of the U.S. Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program. The Centre brings together various government agencies coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Mission of the Centre is to create a real-time maritime situational awareness system in the maritime space of Georgia and to support its functioning. The Center is a mechanism to create a unified operational picture of the situation in the maritime space of Georgia, to prevent, detect and eliminate illegal actions, to facilitate search-and-rescue operations, to protect the marine environment, and to manage natural disasters. The Centre is a combination of management, control, communications, Marine surveillance sensor technologies, electronic databases and relevant infrastructure.