The project was approved by the Managing Authority of Operational Programme Transport 2007-2013 with Decision No. ОПТ-32/30.09.2011.

Deadline: The project is planned to be concluded on 01.05.2014.

Beneficiary: Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company

Budget: Total value of the project: BGN 42,318,622.36

Grant awarded under OP Transport: BGN 35,378,913.72 including VAT

Sources of granted funds:

European Regional Development Fund: BGN 30,072,076.66

National co-funding: BGN 5,306,837.06

Funds provided by the beneficiary: BGN 6,939,708.64

The project is funded under Priority Axis 4 “Improvement of the maritime and inland-waterway navigation” of Operational Programme Transport 2007-2013.

Aim of the project

The overall aim of the project is to harmonise the information services concerning the maintenance of inland waterway traffic and transport management. Implementation of Directive 2005/44/ЕС. As an EU Member State, Bulgaria is required to establish a RIS system as a part of a trans-European network on the technical guidelines for the planning, implementation and operation of river information services (RIS) in order to ensure efficient and safe inland waterway navigation.

Specific objectives of the project:

- Implementation of the telecommunication infrastructure of the river information system in the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube river — BULRIS, which is to transmit fully and continuously all data and voice from the Florentin station to the Silistra station and to the RIS centre;

- Establishing conditions to ensure the interaction with other information systems serving other modes of transport;

- Construction of a modern building for the RIS centre in Bulgaria.

Location

The territorial scope of the project is the Republic of Bulgaria along the Danube river on the territory of the areas of Vidin; Montana; Vratsa; Pleven; Veliko Tarnovo; Ruse, and Silistra.

Functions of the river information system (RIS)

RIS is a concept concerning harmonised information services whose aim is to maintain and manage inland waterway traffic and the interactions with other modes of transport. The aim is to optimise transport operations through efficient information exchange, providing the benefits of inland navigation and allowing the integration into intermodal logistic chains.

The concept is based on using information about vessels and waterway traffic (rivers, lakes or canals) (European Commission, 2005). RIS consists of information technology and telecommunication infrastructure:

- Internal electronic navigation charts (internal ENC) and internal electronic chart display and information system (internal ECDIS);

- Internet applications for notices to skippers;

- Electronic reports of vessel systems, monitoring and tracking vessels, technologies (for example automatic recognition such as the AIS);

- Applications for fuel optimisation, etc. (SPIN-TN, 2006). Pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Ordinance, the Bulgarian river information system shall consist of a supporting infrastructure and:

- a system providing data on vessels and their owners;

- a system for receiving electronic reports from vessels;

- a system providing electronic navigation charts for the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube river from km 374,100 to km 610,000 prepared by the EAEMD;

- an information data base on water levels and the fairway to support navigators who use the Bulgarian river information services;

- a vessel detection and tracking system in the Bulgarian section of the Danube river;

- connections to transport and commerce management systems;

- a system providing notices to navigators.

The project proposes to solve the following issues:

• Implementing the necessary infrastructure in 16 communication points located along the Danube river and 1 backup centre, situated in the town of Varna.
• Implementing a river information centre in Ruse. Such a building is to be implemented for the first time in Bulgaria.
• Extending the service and system scope.
• Integrating new technologies, laid down in a new Directive in 2012, with a view to enhancing the system.

The implementation of the project will result in establishing the river information service system whose aim is to collect, process, control and disseminate geodetic, hydrographic, morphological, hydrological, meteorological, and statistical data concerning navigation on the Danube river. Establishing the RIS system and providing the full range of services will result in removing bottlenecks in navigating critical sections in the region and increasing the navigation safety level which will make the inland waterway transport on the Danube river more efficient and contribute to protecting the environment.

 Project contractors

Geokom – M Ltd. – contract value: BGN 4,400.00 excluding VAT;

MG – ARH Ltd. – contract value: BGN 19,000.00 excluding VAT;

Nera Networks AS – Bulgarian branch – contract value: BGN 10,320.00 excluding VAT;

Holding Bulris 2009 JSC – contract value: BGN 11,289,440.00 excluding VAT;

Dihris 99 Ltd. – contract value: BGN 42,000.00 excluding VAT;

Aruid – Panayotovi & Co. SD (General Partnership) – contract value: BGN 23,000.00 excluding VAT;

Survey Group Ltd. – contract value: BGN 1,350.00 excluding VAT;

Geotehnika ABS Ltd. – contract value: BGN 3,700.00 excluding VAT;

Ivo Petrov – Architects Ltd. – contract value: BGN 48,500.00 excluding VAT;

Geotehnika ABS Ltd. – contract value: BGN 48,500.00 excluding VAT;