River Information System Updated in Bulgaria
The Consortium BulRIS II led by Transas has completed the second phase of the BULRIS project, funded by the Operational Program "Transport" 2007 – 2013. The system was delivered to the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI Co.) The inauguration ceremony took place at the River Information Center in Ruse in presence of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski.
Within the project Transas upgraded the existing system supplied during the first phase of the BulRIS and extended related IT and physical infrastructure. Upgraded River Information System includes 22 local sites and two Control Centers. The main RIS Center is situated in a new building in Ruse with back-up Control Center located in Varna. Both centers are equipped with the state-of-the-art software and hardware for effective management of inland waterway transport, related logistics processes and real-time data exchange.
Highly performant sensors were supplied by Transas to protect and control coastal assets and monitor inland waterway traffic. Integration of the five border police radars and two new ultra-performant solid state radars allows for achieving the maximum coverage of the operating areas and providing enhanced detection capabilities. The VHF coverage zone has been extended thanks to the additional 24 radio base stations with ATIS functionality and a new distributed Radio Communication System. Transas also supplied eight long-range Day/Night CCTV cameras as well as the thermal vision system. To meet the overall operating efficiency the system consists of ten VTS operator workstations and two Crisis Management workstations equipped with 3D software and Search & Rescue Module.
Bulgarian River Information Systems Phase 2 project is implemented according to all related European standards and includes also integration of the key RIS technologies, such as Inland ECDIS, Inland AIS on-board and on-shore equipment, National Web portal, Notices to skippers service (NtS), Electronic Reporting System and other specific software solutions.
According to Transas, the River Information System in Bulgarian part of the Danube River will be a step forward for increasing safety and efficiency of inland waterway transport in Europe.
