The second Georgia International Maritime Forum (#GIMF 2018) took place in the Black Sea port city of Batumi with the participation of representatives from 53 countries on September 10-14, 2018. National University “Odessa Maritime Academy” was represented by O.M. Shemyakin, First Vice-Rector of NU «OMA», Professor, Doctor of Law and M.V. Chesnokova, Head of International Department, Candidate of Philological Sciences.

GIMF is an initiative of the Government of Georgia under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization who headed the forum.

GIMF is not just a two-year event, but a current project supported by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development through the Georgian Sea Transport Agency. The main goal of GIMF is to promote the common values of the international shipping on issues related to global activities. The purpose of the Forum is to gather high-level representatives of the maritime sector from different countries and regions as well as to provide an opportunity to discuss the urgent legal and economical issues of navigation, the complex maritime policy, and the issues and problems of the marine environment.

Within the framework of #GIMF2018, two major projects were considered and discussed, namely the construction of Anaklia Deep Sea Port and the development of a small cruise industry in the Black Sea region.

Following the end of the event, the Forum adopted the Batumi Declaration of 2018 identifying the goals of development and cooperation of the maritime industry for the next biennium .

During Georgia International Maritime Forum the delegates from NU “OMA” held a number of meetings and negotiations with the representatives of Batumi State Maritime Academy (Georgia), Shanghai Maritime University (China) and Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (Bulgaria).