Sea Breeze maritime drills see Georgia join NATO partners

Georgian Coast Guard was among navies from NATO member states and partners last week marking over two decades of partnership for Black Sea security through the Sea Breeze 2020 maritime drills.

The coast guard personnel, with their patrol vessel Dioskuria, joined 26 ships and 19 aircraft from seven other nations conducting exercises in air defence, anti-submarine warfare, damage control, and search and rescue.

The drills involved over 2,000 naval personnel and combined arms assets. Photo via Border Police of Georgia.

Due to COVID-19 precautions this year's combined exercises only included ship manoeuvres without crew interactions, as the joint effort was conducted between July 20-26.

Over 2,000 personnel were involved in the drills from Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States, with the exercise providing "unique training opportunities designed to enhance readiness, improve collaboration, and interoperability", NATO Liaison Office in Georgia said.

Georgian personnel has taken part in Sea Breeze exercises since their launch 20 years ago.