Port administration in Georgia is defined by the Maritime Code: a seaport is a complex of port infrastructure with port units managing territory and aquatory, while state supervision of navigation safety is exercised by the agency's service — headed by the harbor master. This page explains that structure under Articles 70, 71, 76 and 86-1 of the Code.
The seaport and the port unit
Under Article 70, a seaport is a complex of port infrastructure located at a defined geographic place, which may contain one or more port units. The territory of a port unit covers the land area allocated to it, and the aquatory the sea area allocated to it. The unit ensures the readiness of its territory and aquatory for safe navigation.
Under the same article, the servicing of vessel traffic in Georgia's territorial sea and in every seaport is ensured by the agency through its structural unit, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter V of the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, as amended by its 1988 Protocol; the rules for the operation and control of the vessel-traffic system are determined by a normative act of the agency's director.
The unit's relations with users and state services
Article 71 defines the unit's economic functions: it allocates to physical and legal persons, under the procedure established by legislation, separate plots of its territory, aquatory or berths, installations and equipment. At the same time, the unit provides the coast-guard department and the state customs, border-migration and sanitary services, as well as the agency's respective services, free of charge with appropriate space and creates normal working conditions.
A boundary is set as well: the unit may not impede the activity of an enterprise or organisation located in the port territory or interfere in their economic work, except in cases provided for by legislation; the enterprises and organisations, for their part, are obliged to observe the port rules. This balance activates economic freedom and order together on the port's territory.