COAST GUARD
The Coast Guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs 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 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 unit was 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 provided free of charge by our partners - the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Ukraine.
2008 is a notable date in our history. After the Russo-Georgian War, 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 Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard Department has worked closely with the United States since 1998, the earliest days of its history. The cooperation with the NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) started in 2010.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a history of successful cooperation with the United States. Under the auspices of the 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 ships, modernization and construction of the Shipbuilding Facility and the landing stages (piers). The projects aimed to increase the Coast Guard capacity, develop its infrastructure, train the personnel, etc.
The U.S. support for equipping Coast Guard Boarding Teams is vital. In 2017, 2 Boarding Teams joined the NATO Operational Capability Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme (OCC E&F). The group certification process involves two levels and four steps (SEL1, NEL1, SEL2, NEL2). The programme helps us to increase interoperability with the NATO Naval Forces. 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) made the positive decision and Georgia has been granted Operational Partner Status to the Operational Sea Guardian (OSG).
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 Centre’s objective 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.
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The radio-communication system of the Coast Guard has been completely renewed;
With the support of Turkey, the Coast Guard vessels - SOKHUMI and POTI were overhauled;
The Georgian Border Police is closely cooperating with the NATO Joint Maritime Command. As part of a bilateral tactical memorandum, the Coast Guard is supporting NATO’s anti-terrorist operation “Sea Guardian”, exchanging tactical and intelligence information;
New Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Border Police and the NATO Joint Maritime Command (MARCOM), which significantly expanded the areas of cooperation;
Based on the Government Decree, the procedure for issuing diplomatic permits was simplified for entry into the territorial waters and ports of Georgia for the permanent maritime units of the Alliance, as well as for NATO-operated ships;
In 2022, Operational Capabilities of Georgian Coast Guard of MIA Border Police of Georgia is 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 (IOM).
