Bulgarian Navy News

Italy's Fincantieri, German shipyard Luerssen and Bulgaria's MTG Dolphin have submitted bids in a 984 million levs ($570 million) tender to build two patrol ships for the Bulgarian navy, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.The Black Sea country is looking to replace its three ageing Soviet-made patrol ships with the new vessels and improve its compliance with NATO standards.The offers will be opened on April 22, the ministry said in a statement.

Italy's Fincantieri, German shipyard Luerssen and Bulgaria's MTG Dolphin are expected to file bids in a tender to build two patrol ships for the Bulgarian navy, a senior official said on Tuesday.The Black Sea country is looking to replace its three ageing Soviet-made patrol ships with the new vessels and has set April 16 as the deadline for bids.It raised the budget for the new ships by 20 percent to 984 million levs ($567 million) last year after a previous tender collapsed over financial terms.Rear Admiral Mitko Petev, commander of the Bulgarian Navy - which also has three Belgian frigates - said the patrol boats would be equipped with weaponry for air and underwater combat and helicopter landing platforms.He told public television BNT that Luerssen, Fincantieri and MTG-Dolphin had expre

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) has completed its third deployment into the Black Sea under the command of Captain Ramazan Kesgin, Turkish Navy. SNMCMG2 started its deployment on July 8 in support of NATO’s assurance measures regarding Alliance resolve and commitment to collective defense, and to enhance maritime security in the region. SNMCMG2 included the flagship TCG CEZAYIRLI GAZI HASAN PASA (Turkey) and the mine counter-measures vessels TCG EDINCIK (Turkey), ESPS TURIA (Spain) and the ROS SLT. ALEXANDRU AXENTE (Romania).

Bulgaria's navy is preparing to acquire two fully equipped multifunctional ships by 2022 in a deal estimated to cost about 820 million levs ($477.80 million), Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Thursday. The Balkan country's government approved on Wednesday plans to buy new military equipment to improve its compliance with NATO standards and cut its reliance on Russian-made machinery. "The Bulgarian Naval Forces will have two fully operational patrol ships within three and a half to six years," Nenchev said during a visit to the Black Sea city of Varna. Nenchev said the cost for the two ships, which could be used for the defence of other vessels, oil platforms and convoys and have a helicopter on board, could be cut by about 30 percent if built in shipyards in Bulgaria.

Five ships assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) reached on Saturday morning the Naval Station Varna at the Black Sea coast to take part in joint training with Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish vessels. As a result of the gale-force winds, most of the ships failed to drop anchor, with the exception of ITS ALISEO (Italy). Bulgaria will deploy its frigate Drazki for the exercise, which is due on March 9, Defense Ministry officials say. Led by Rear Admiral Brad Williamson (USA N), SNMG2 is currently comprised of the flagship USS Vicksburg (CG 69), HMCS Fredericton (FFH 337), TCG Turgutreis (F 241), FGS Spessart (A 1442), ITS Aliseo (F 574), and ROS Regina Maria (F 222).

Seven NATO countries completed naval exercises in the Black Sea on Thursday, officials said, in a signal of the alliance's resolve to support east European members who have been unnerved by Russia's behavior in the Ukraine crisis. Though scheduled before the crisis erupted, the war games took on added significance because of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March, and the subsequent outbreak of a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine. Led by the Bulgarian navy, the 10-day drills aimed to improve tactical coordination of allied units "in a multi-threat environment," NATO has said. Vessels took part from Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Britain and the United States.

A joint exercise involving U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea started on Wednesday just across the water from the Crimean Peninsula, where Russian military groups have seized control from Ukrainian authorities. The United States says the naval exercises were planned before the crisis in Ukraine. But they send a message of resolve to NATO members nervous about Russia's intentions in its former Cold War backyard, along with reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania near the Ukrainian border and U.S.-Polish wargames.

A joint naval exercise of U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea has started, the Bulgarian navy said on Wednesday. The USS Truxtun, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer with about 300 crew and part of the U.S. Sixth Fleet headquartered in Italy, joined the manoeuvres with Bulgarian naval frigate Drazki and three Romanian vessels in the Black Sea. The drills started across the water from the Crimean Peninsula where Russian military groups have seized control from Ukrainian authorities. "This time the exercise has begun as planned," Lieutenant-Colonel Dimitar Titev told Reuters. The drills were delayed by one day on Tuesday due to bad weather.

Transas Marine has upgraded training complex at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (Varna, Bulgaria), including full mission bridge simulator upgrade to the latest Transas NTPRO 5000 software and new version of the GMDSS simulator TGS 5000. The Transas – Naval Academy partnership started in 2002 when Transas Marine supplied its Navigational, later Engine Room and GMDSS simulators to the Academy. In July 2012, Transas Marine has signed a contract with the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy for the extension and upgrade of the Transas Navigational and GMDSS simulators, and a long-term update/upgrade, service, support and maintenance program for the next 3 years.

Bulgaria's newest battleship was adopted in the ranks of Bulgarian Navy Forces on Sunday. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, Defense Minister Vesselin Bliznakov and Chief of Army Staff General Nikola Kolev. The frigate adopted the name "Druzki" (Intrepid) was purchased from Belgium at the cost of $27.3M. As a NATO member Bulgaria has engaged to execute a thorough modernization of its army forces. The frigate, whose previous name was Vandelaar, is a multi-task battleship with modern equipment and armament for the Alliance's terrorist traffic control operations in the Black and Mediterranean seas.