Coast Guard of Georgia The Georgian Coast Guard is the maritime arm of the Georgian Border Police , within the Ministry for Internal Affairs . It is responsible for the maritime protection of the entire coastline of Georgia , as well as the Georgian territorial waters . The primary missions of the service are administration of the territorial waters , marine pollution protection , maritime law enforcement , search and rescue , port security and maritime defense . The former Georgian Navy was absorbed into the Coast Guard in 2009 . The Georgian Navy ( Georgian Naval Forces ; Georgian : საქართველოს სამხედრო საზღვაო ძალები , sak ' art ' velos samkhedro - sazghvao dzalebi ) was a branch of the Georgian Defense Ministry armed forces until 2009 , when it was merged with the Coast Guard and transferred to the Ministry for Internal Affairs . Before the 2008 South Ossetia war , the Georgian Navy consisted of 19 vessels and 531 personnel of which 181 were officers , 200 NCOs , 114 conscripts and 36 civilians . The headquarters and a principal Coast Guard base are located at the Black Sea port of Poti . A second smaller base is in Batumi , Adjaria . Besides the Poti - based force , the Coast Guard also includes a special counter - terrorist Detachment . Maritime surveillance radar stations are maintained at Anaklia , Poti , Supsa , Chakvi and Gonio , providing coverage of all territorial seas . The current ( 2012 ) commander of the Georgian Coast Guard is Captain 2nd Rank Lasha Kharabadze . History . Despite Georgia ' s location at the Black Sea coast and historical association with maritime commerce , it has never actually possessed any sizable fleet . The first attempt to build a modern navy dates to the country ' s short - lived independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1918 to 1921 . The Georgian Navy at that time consisted of a flagship , several sailing - boats , and a few tugs commandeered from Russian owners during the Russian Civil War . The 1921 Red Army invasion brought the nation - building to an end and Georgia became part of the Soviet Union . By 1990 , Georgia ’ s coastal waters had been controlled by the Poti - based 184th Coast Guard Brigade of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet . Smaller bases were located at Ochamchire , Batumi , Anaklia , and Sukhumi . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the Poti brigade was completely withdrawn from Georgia in 1992 , having left behind only six vessels . However , the Russian border guards continued to patrol Georgia ’ s coastline until 1998 . Georgian Navy . In February 1990 , the Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia decreed an ad hoc commission for the army - building problems . One of its groups , led by Captain Alexander Javakhishvili , the former commander of a Soviet nuclear submarine , was responsible for building up a navy . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Georgia , not a CIS member at that time , was not included in the initial Russian - Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet partition negotiations in January 1992 . Thus , when the separatist war in Abkhazia broke out in 1992 , Georgia was without an effective naval force and defense system . The only two significant naval operations during the war included the August 1992 evacuation of 173 women and children from Bichvinta ( Pitsunda ) and the April 1993 destruction of a pro - Abkhaz Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev ' s camp at Gudauta . July 7 , 1993 , the day when the Georgian minesweeper " Gantiadi " under Shukri Kopaliani , patrolling off Tamysh , won a victory over several Abkhaz boats was celebrated as the Day of the Georgian Navy . The navy - building began with equipping fishing vessels by small caliber anti - aircraft guns and machine guns . In 1996 , Georgia resumed its demands on its portion of the ex - Soviet Black Sea Fleet , and the Russian refusal to allot Georgia a portion of the ex - Soviet Navy became another bone of contention in the progressively deteriorating Georgian - Russian relations . This time , Ukraine endorsed Tbilisi ’ s claims , turning over several patrol boats to the Georgian Navy and starting to train Georgian crews , but was unable to include in the final fleet deal a transfer of the formerly Poti - based vessels to Georgia . [ 2 ] Later , the rest of the Georgian share was decided to be ceded to Russia in return for diminution of debt . Georgia is one of the founding members and a participant of the Black Sea Force ( BLACKSEAFOR ) . Later in the 1990s , Georgia , with the help of NATO member states , chiefly Turkey and Greece , managed to build up a small naval force . Yet throughout its existence the Georgian Navy remained , in many ways , the most inferior component of the armed forces without any clear operational doctrine and lacking resources necessary to maintain seaworthy ships or conduct training missions . Following the Georgia ' s 2008 conflict with Russia , in which Georgia had most of its naval forces destroyed , it was decided to merge the Georgian Navy with the Georgian Coast Guard . [ 4 ] Georgian Coast Guard . In contrast , the Georgian Coast Guard , which is part of the Border Police and subordinate to the Interior Ministry , has developed rapidly into one of the most effective forces in Georgia today . The formation of the Coast Guard started in 1998 , when the first naval division was established within the State Border Defense State Department of Georgia ( directly under the Office of the President ) . At the same time , the first and the second naval divisions were founded in Poti and Batumi . The command structure made these units a military element of the Border Guard , adjunct but without clear maritime experience . On July 16 , 1998 the 1st Naval Division of the State Border Defense State Department of Georgia started patrolling of the maritime state border of Georgia . The vessels had been donated by Ukraine and Turkey , in varying states of seaworthiness . Georgian Coast Guard Day is celebrated on July 16 of each year . Immediate support for development of the Coast Guard came by way of the United States Georgia Border Security and Law Enforcement ( GBSLE ) Program , managed by the U . S . Customs Service with involvement of the U . S . Coast Guard . Georgian maritime personnel had begun to attend technical and officer training schools in the U . S . in 1997 , an initiative that then expanded . The first infrastructure assistance project to be completed was the surveillance radar station at the terminus of the Supsa oil pipeline in 1999 . The United States Coast Guard deployed a Long Term Training Team to Georgia in 1998 , based in Poti . Over the next five years the team offered training , mentoring and maintenance for the Georgian Coast Guard personnel and infrastructure . Two 40 foot SeaArks and two USCG s were transferred to Georgia . Arriving in 2000 and 2002 , the ex - and ex - became the workhorses of the fleet . Renamed " Tsotne Dadiani " ( P210 ) and " General Mazniashvili " ( P211 ) , the cutters created a technical bridge that served well until Georgia began to develop and acquire new vessels in 2007 and 2008 . A second coastal radar was brought online in Poti in 2002 . Overlapping Supsa coverage to the south , Georgia now could monitor territorial waters from Abkhazia region to Adjaria region . Internally , the naval division remained ill funded , ill defined and challenged by its organizational role as simply another Border Guard element . Due to the importance of the obligations to control the maritime border , and with increasing capabilities , a reform process was begun in 2002 to create equality and organizational efficiency for the Coast Guard . Admiring the model of the United States , and supported by the GBSLE Maritime Advisor and Georgian colleagues , Georgian Captain Third Class Ramazi Papidze crafted a functional Coast Guard for Georgia . Implementing a plan based on the threats , missions , tactics and current / planned resources , Papidze developed a structure that was equal within the Department to the Border Guard , and that divided responsibilities inside the Coast Guard between operational forces led by an Operations Directorate and Resources Management led by an Administration Directorate . The service would have a majority independent budget and autonomous responsibility for the conduct of its missions . Innovative and forward looking , the proposal included necessities of Georgian legislation , culture and tradition . Clearly a Georgian organizational model , in April 2003 the Main Office of the Coast Guard was established within the State Border Defense State Department of Georgia . This was the most major reform of a military element in Georgia to date , and set the Coast Guard on a path of professionalization and operational success . Shortly after the announcement Major General Davit Gulua was named as the first Head of the Coast Guard , while continuing his duties as Deputy Chairman of the Department . In 2005 , the State Border Defense Department of Georgia became a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia with the significant increase of the status and functions of the Coast Guard . In December 2006 , the MIA State Border Defense Department was transformed into a law - enforcement agency – the Border Police of Georgia . Relevant changes were made in the Coast Guard as well ; it now had the status of a department . The Head of the Department became at the same time the Deputy Head of the Border Police of Georgia . Georgian Coast Guard Vessels . In early 2008 , the Georgian Coast Guard fleet consisted of : Former Georgian Navy Vessels . The Georgian Navy consisted of 19 ships and boats . Until 19 August 2008 , when it was destroyed by Russian forces , the most powerful combat unit was the missile boat " Dioskuria " . The other surface combat vessel , the missile boat " Tbilisi " , was found on fire in the Georgian naval base of Poti . The Navy suffered extensive losses in the Russo - Georgian War . At sea on 9 August 2008 one Georgian warship was reported to have been hit by gunfire and sunk by units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet off the Abkhazian coast when allegedly entered a Russia imposed " security zone " along with three other vessels . Other units were set on fire or sunk by Russian forces at Poti naval pier on 13 August . Even prior to the 2008 conflict Georgia had no missiles for the two vessels ( " Dioskura " and " Tbilisi " ) that had missile tubes . As of the beginning of 2009 , both the " Tbilisi " and " Dioskuria " remained submerged in the port of Poti . They are likely total losses . Overall , it appears that Georgian naval losses during the 2008 war with Russia totalled the " Tbilisi " , " Dioskuria " , and " Tskaltubo " , which were sunk in Poti . Coast Guard losses totalled the cutter " Giorgi Toreli " , which was allegedly sunk in the battle off the coast of Abkhazia , as well as " P 203 " . Georgia ' s Coast Guard and Navy also had a number of small , rigid - hulled inflatable boat s which were hauled off by Russian forces as war trophies . These hulls had served Coast Guard law enforcement missions and the Georgian Special Forces . The tremendous loss of assets was likely one of the reasons the Navy was disbanded , and merged , into the Georgian Coast Guard . Today ' s Coast Guard Vessels . Following the 2008 conflict with Russia , it appears that Georgia was able to recapitalize at least a portion of its fleet . The Coast Guard cutter " Ayety " ( former German minesweeper " Minden " ) and naval ship " Tskaltubo " , which had been scuttled in the port of Poti , were both raised . Judging by recent photographs , it appears that the " Ayety " has been returned to active service as a training platform at the base in Poti . The " Tskaltubo " , however , suffered much more extensive damage than the " Ayety " , and her return to active service remains questionable . She is currently in dry dock . The Coast Guard vessels which had sortied to Batumi in August 2008 were able to return and take up duties soon after Russian forces left Poti . These vessels remain in service in 2010 . Additionally the Coast Guard vessels homeported in Batumi in 2008 remain active . As a new acquisition , and contracted prior to August 2008 , the Georgian Coast Guard has placed one Turkish built MRTP - 33 patrol / fast attack boat , the P - 24 " Sokhumi " , into service . At least one more ship of this class is reportedly on order . These vessels are multi - mission capable so as to serve the diverse needs of Coast Guard response . The heaviest armament seen on these ships are 25 - 30mm cannon . Georgia ' s Coast Guard also still has at least five of the smaller patrol boats armed with ZU - 23 - 2 anti - aircraft guns that survived the conflict with Russia . Coast Guard absorbs Navy in 2009 . In 2009 Georgia ' s remaining few operational naval units were consolidated with those of the Coast Guard of Georgia and placed under the Ministry for Internal Affairs of Georgia . Alleged Blockade of Abkhazia . During August 2009 , the Georgian Coast Guard seized three commercial shipping vessels that were attempting to sail into Abkhazian waters . Abkhazian authorities have accused Georgia of maintaining a blockade of the break - away province in order to weaken and isolate it .