Int'l maritime university to beopened in Batumi

Georgia, Tbilisi, June 25 /Trend N.Kirtzkhalia/ The International Centre for Seafarers will open in Batumi in 2015, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday. He noted that the necessary infrastructure for the new high school will be created in Batumi, and sailors for the entire region will be prepared here. Saakashvili said there are 18,000 Georgian sailors today floating in the ocean, and there are also several captains among them. "It is a major source of income of Poti and Batumi port cities, from which most of the sailors came, as well as from Abkhazia, which will be left by the Russian occupiers," he stressed. The President of Georgia noted that the country was included in the "black list" of the EU due to corruption and lack of organization in the industry several years ago. "But today, we were able to solve these problems and improve the reputation of our sailors," he said. Saakashvili said sailors' profession is dangerous, as evidenced by capture of the Georgian sailors by Somali pirates. "But our government always takes care of its citizens, and our sailors were released from captivity," he stressed. The President congratulated sailors, engineers, captains, and the Rector of Batumi Maritime College Orders of Honor with regard to their professional holiday.