A Royal Navy Surface Fleet vessel has docked in Batumi. HMS Dragon, a Daring-class air-defence destroyer with 8,500 tons of displacement, is in the port hosted by the Georgian coast guard, with the visit set to involve a NATO-level evaluation of the performance of the coast service"s boarding groups.

The destroyer’s Commanding Officer Giles Palin and his British delegation were hosted in Batumi by Georgian dignitaries including Captain 1st Rank Ramaz Papidze, Director of the Coast Guard Department, and Archil Chikovani, Acting Mayor of Batumi. The welcoming also involved Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Brumwell, the UK Defence Attaché to Georgia.

The ship will stay in the Batumi port until October 18.