Bulgarian Ports
Infrastructure Company

An important step towards the implementation of the concept of smart ports is made by the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI Co.) with the implementation of the project “Territorial Expanding and Completing Functions of Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) – Phase 4”. The implementation of the fourth phase of the project led to technological improvement and expansion of the VTMIS system by implementing an advanced digital infrastructure that meets the highest world standards, as well as by using innovative approaches in its construction and operation. This became clear from the words of the Director General of BPI Co. Anguel Zabourtov during the final event of the project, which took place on May 18, 2021 in Burgas.  

The extension of the scope and functions of the system has led to the improvement in the safety of shipping, the protection of human life at sea and the protection of the environment from pollution. This was stated by the project manager Dipl. Eng. Zlatko Kuzmanov, PhD who introduced the guests of the event to the technological capabilities of the system. The geographical expansion of its scope has been achieved through the construction of new sites to cover areas for navigation surveillance and the installation of equipment on existing sites, covering the extreme northern and southern regions of the sea areas and critical navigable and port areas in Bulgaria.

The project, implemented by BPI Co. under the Operational Program “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” 2014 – 2020, follows the good European practices in the field of vessel traffic management and the continuous technological development and improvement in the sector. The expansion and supplementation of the national VTMIS system has led to achievement of balance between the improvement of BPI Co. electronic systems and their technological development. This helps to increase the parameters of a number of characteristics of the maritime transport system such as efficiency, safety and security, as well as for the better integration into the pan-European model for an integrated transport system and in particular information exchange in systems such as SafeSeaNet (SSN).