Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Hristo Alexiev and European coordinator for the Rhine-Danube Corridor Karla Peijs launched today the first ever hydrographic Danube survey vessel. The ship is a possession of Executive Agency "Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River" and is constructed under the project "Improvement of navigation and topo-hydrographic measurements along the Danube River - Phase 2".

"This is the first specialized vessel of this kind, which will fly the flag of Bulgaria. The equipment at her disposal allows to predict potential changes in the fairway of the river and thus to react before it is needed to stop the traffic", said Minister Alexiev.

In his words, over the past few years Bulgaria has made significant steps to improve navigation conditions. The total value of funds invested during the last programming period under OP on "Transport" is 40 million BGN. "For us is of crucial significance the inclusion of the Danube as part of a corridor of the core "Rhine - Danube" network and therefore the elaboration of comprehensive studies and an action plan for the corridor. The actions of MTITC are aimed at modernization of port infrastructure, achieving interoperability, deployment and upgrade of River information systems".

"We should emphasize the importance of the European assistance under Operational Program on "Transport and transport infrastructure", said Hristo Alexiev. "During this programming period EU funds will be allocated to eliminate bottlenecks in the Bulgarian section of the Danube River, including deepening, building embankments, shore consolidations and purchasing of equipment for the maintenance of the waterway," he added. "Soon we launched two contracts – the first is related to the delivery of another specialized vessel for marking of the waterway of the Danube River. The second contract is related to the dredging in critical sections of the river in order to preserve the design depths as recommended by the Danube Commission. I expect by mid-year to have real results with regard to these two issues", said Minister Alexiev.

The Project "Improvement of navigation and topo-hydrographic measurements along the Danube River - Phase 2" is financed under the Operational Program on "Transport and Transport Infrastructure" 2014 - 2020. The total investment amounts to 6,146,508 BGN.