---
title: "Port Authority"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/aviation-and-maritime-law-en/port-authority-en"
field: "Aviation & Maritime Law"
description: "Port administration in Georgia: the unit, the harbor master, responsibility and supervision. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-02-10"
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Port Authority

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/aviation-and-maritime-law-en/port-authority-en

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 full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/aviation-and-maritime-law-en/port-authority-en

### Who manages navigation in the port?

The agency; supervision — the harbor master's service.

### To whom are plots allocated?

To physical and legal persons; to services — free.

### For what is the unit responsible?

Safety, structures, depths, environment.

### Who becomes harbor master?

A citizen with ship-master education and captain's title.