Romanian River News

Saab TransponderTech AB has been awarded a contract from the Romanian Naval Authority to upgrade and expand the country’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) network along the Black Sea Coast. Under the contract, Saab will deliver, install and commission four new AIS base stations along the Black Sea Coast. The AIS base stations will be integrated with the Vessel Traffic Management and Information System (VTMIS) in the Romanian Naval Authority headquarters in Constanta. The system will exchange AIS data and be integrated with the existing Romanian River Information System (RORIS), which was earlier supplied by Saab. RORIS utilizes AIS and other sensors to provide VTMIS coverage over the Romanian portion of the Danube waterway.

The association of Romanian river shippers said it would sue the Romanian government and NATO over a total estimated loss of $90 million because of the Kosovo conflict. Association president Mircea Toader said the losses had been caused by the embargo on Yugoslavia after the Kosovo war and by the blockage of the Danube. Toader, who was speaking at the end of a meeting in the Danube port town of Galati, said the association -- representing 95 percent of Romania's river shippers -- voted to ask the Romanian state for damages worth $5.4 million for lost crude oil transport contracts during the embargo. The association also announced plans to sue the North Atlantic Treaty Organization over alleged losses indirectly caused by the bombing of Yugoslav bridges.