Georgian coast guard vessels join NATO counterpart in drills

Georgian Coast Guard service and a group of NATO vessels joined forces in drills in the Black Sea, the interior ministry reported on Friday.

Two ships of the country's coast guard, which is part of the ministry structure, and the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 were involved in action off Georgia's western coast.

The ministry said two Island-class patrol boats of the GCG, Dioskuria and Ochamchire, entered the joint exercises with three of the four ships of the SNMG2 that entered Georgia's territorial waters earlier this week.

A Georgian patrol boat joining an SNMG2 vessel in the manoeuvres. Photo via Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

From the alliance's immediate reaction group, Regina Maria of the Romanian navy, Turkish fleet's Kemalreis and Bulgaria's Smeli were part of the effort.

Designed to "increase interoperability" between Georgian maritime units and their NATO counterparts, the manoeuvres have been called a "clear message of support" for Georgia by the country's ministry.

The SNMG2's visit to the Georgian waters follows the port of Poti's hosting of Bulgarian, Canadian, Italian, Romanian and Turkish ships of the group in its docks last year.