Naval War Warning in the Black Sea

You don't see this every day.

The leader of the pro-Moscow breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia said Wednesday he had ordered its military to destroy any Georgian ship violating its de-facto sea borders.

"I have given the order to our naval forces to destroy Georgian ships infringing the sea border of Abkhazia," Sergei Bagapsh told the Interfax news agency in an interview.

"This step has been caused by the constant acts of piracy from the Georgian side," he added.

There have been increased tensions over Georgia's bid to enforce a naval blockade of Abkhazia after it seized last month a Turkish ship carrying fuel from Turkey to the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi.

The order appears to be a reaction to a Georgian court sentencing a Turkish ship captain to 24 years in jail for sailing his freighter to Abkhazia without Tbilisi’s consent. Georgia has been siezing ships attempting to trade with Abkhazia, basically applying a blockade on the territory, requiring ships to get permission before trading.

Kommersant reported the news in Russia like this:

Abkhazia is ready to use force against Georgia's ships in the Black Sea, with Russia's support, after Georgia arrested and escorted to its ports several vessels going to and from Abkhazia last month.

"We have no choice but to capture Georgian ships," Abkhazian Foreign minister Sergei Shamba said. Abkhazia has secured Moscow's support, as Russia has to protect Abkhazian ships in its territorial waters under a bilateral agreement on joint border control.

"Until recently the land border between Georgia and Abkhazia was in the political spotlight. But the situation on the sea now requires interference as well," Shamba added.

This year, Georgian coast guard arrested 23 vessels for "violation of the rules for entering the waters of invaded territories." They confiscate the cargo and impose a large fine on the vessel's owner, and if the owner fails to pay on time, they confiscate the ship for the country's benefit and sell it at an auction.

A source in Russia's Federal Border Service confirmed the commitment of the security service's coast guard department to ensure, jointly with Abkhazian colleagues, safe passage of all ships entering or leaving Abkhazia's waters.

"Georgia arrests ships in neutral waters, which is piracy under any laws, or in the territorial waters of Abkhazia, which is recognized by Russia as an independent state. Russia is also the guarantor of its safety. I hope the Georgian authorities have enough sense to avoid making more errors similar to those they committed on land last summer," the source said, expressing hope that the parties concerned would not go as far as sea battles.

"Russia's actions would be viewed as piracy," reacted Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgia's deputy prime minister and minister for reintegration. "Delivering freight to Abkhazia by sea without Georgia's permit violates Georgian law," he added.

Georgia will try to prevent Russian ships from entering national waters, which is fraught with a dangerous conflict, or will have to make concessions, said Irakly Sesiashvili, a Georgian military analyst, adding that these actions would "in any case hit Georgia's economy, as Russian coast guard boats in our waters would scare private companies away from the port of Poti".

This can turn into a lopsided conflict quickly if Russia gets involved. The Georgian Coast Guard is tiny, and the Georgian Navy was disbanded following the war last year.

I have not been tracking vessels as closely as I used to, but USS Porter (DDG 78) was in the Mediterranean Sea a week ago. Not sure if she was heading down to fight pirates though.