Building Trust on the Black Sea

If you passed through the ports of Poti or Batumi in Georgia a year ago, there would have been no sign of The Mission to Seafarers. Today, it’s a different story, thanks to the dedication of our chaplain in the country, Sergo Artenyan.

The ports of Poti and Batumi are a vital bridge between Europe and Asia, and at the heart of what is known as the Middle Corridor. The World Bank predicts that trade through the corridor could triple to 11 million tonnes a year by 2030, compared to 2021 levels.

That growth is already evident in Batumi, which handled around 7.3 million tonnes of cargo in 2025 – double what it carried in 2024. Further north, Poti handles around 80% of Georgia’s container traffic.

The Mission’s strategy has always been to take welfare services directly to seafarers who need them, and with Sergo’s arrival in July 2025, things have been taking shape.

Starting at zero
After completing his initial training in London, Sergo returned to Georgia to get started. “We started at zero,” he recalls. “There was only me, my backpack and the knowledge I gained during training.” But before he could put that training into practice, there was a bigger challenge to overcome, “there was no trust.”

It’s taken months of liaising, meeting, background checks and administration to secure access to the ports and ships. “Over here you can’t just get a badge and visit a ship. It’s an entire process,” he explains.

Earning trust, one ship at a time
Access is only the first step. Authorisation opens doors, but there is no shortcut to building relationships with seafarers. Crews passing through the ports are largely Ukrainian, Russian or Turkish, and Sergo speaks Georgian, Russian and English, with a good knowledge of Armenian. Even so, to many of them, a chaplain offering support with no strings attached seemed too good to be true.

The very concept of welfare support was also alien, with most crews working exclusively in the Black Sea, where there are virtually no other chaplains.

As Sergo explains, most ship visitors are from local authorities, police or immigration, checking protocols. “So they [seafarers] think maybe I am also coming to get them in trouble,” he says.

Sergo has worked hard to gain their trust and now visits between 30 and 50 ships each month, raising awareness of the Mission, driving seafarers into town and listening to their challenges.

“We can now go there freely, visit ships, talk with seafarers,” he says with pride. “They’re sharing information with each other, saying that there is a Mission to Seafarers chaplain and he’s good and supportive.”

“This means that tomorrow when they have a challenge, they can say, ‘OK, let’s go and see Sergo. He probably knows the port authorities, the ITF, all these people.’”

With the foundations firmly in place, Sergo is determined to build a team ready to respond to growth in the region, with more volunteers, better transport and even a seafarers’ centre.

“The only thing we are thinking about right now is progress,” he smiles.