site.bta145 Years Since Establishment of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy

The foundations of maritime education in this country were laid in the city of Ruse on January 9, 1881 as the first martime school in the Principality of Bulgaria was established pursuant to a circular order of the Ministry of War. 

Lieutenant commander Alexander Egorovich Konkevich, the founder of the institution, was named as the "Superintendent" of the Fleet and the Maritime Unit (the official name of the Bulgarian Navy in the 19th century). This was the first technical educational institution in Bulgaria.

In 1892, the school was reorganized and renamed the Petty Officer Naval School, which trained boatswains, ratings, artillerymen, miners, and machinist mates. In 1900, the institution moved to Varna and was renamed the Engineering School of the Fleet. An act of the National Assembly also made it the country's first technical secondary school and extended the training period to six years. After a short training course for a select group of naval alumni, the first officer class graduated in 1917. 

In the spring of 1921, Bulgaria’s Navy was disbanded under the terms of the Peace Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine. In 1929, the Marine Engineering School's status was set out in a special law, after which it was renamed the Maritime School. Two years later, the Seagoing Department was established to train watch officers for the merchant navy.  In 1949, the Naval School adopted Nikola Vaptsarov, a poet and graduate of the Class of 1926, as its patron and received the name N. Y. Vaptsarov People's Naval School.  In 1954, the school moved to its current location at 73 Vasil Drumev Street. In 1956, with a decree from the Presidium of the National Assembly, it received the status of a higher engineering maritime school and was renamed the N. Y. Vaptsarov People's Higher Naval School. Since 1991, it has been known as the Higher Naval School Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov.

Following is a selection of news items by which the BTA English service covered events at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna.

Crisis Management Courses to be Run at Varna Naval Academy

Varna, on the Black Sea, January 9, 2008 (BTA) 

A training centre for qualified crisis and emergency management officials will begin by mid-2008 at Varna's Naval Academy, its head Capt Dimitar Angelov said on Wednesday. Search and rescue at sea training will also be provided, Angelov said.
Over 1,100 students are currently being trained at the Academy, which was founded in 1881, Angelov explained, and this number can now double after its emergency training accreditation, with its 2008 budget of 5.6 million leva (2.9 million euro).

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Bulgarian, Greek Naval Higher Schools Sign Cooperation Agreement 

Varna, May 27, 2009 (BTA) – 

The Higher Naval School of Varna signed a cooperation agreement with the Naval Academy of Piraeus, Greece. This transpired at a meeting of the chiefs of the two educational establishments: of the Varna School Captain Dimiter Angelov and the Piraeus Academy Rear Admiral Georgios Dimitriadis.

The accord will make it possible for the two schools to participate in the Erasmus programme. Exchange of students and lecturers will be effected within the programme, said Angelov.

The Higher Naval School of Varna is involved in talks on the signing of such agreements with naval academies of Germany, Italy and Poland. /TK/

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Future Centre in Varna to Provide Practical Training in International Maritime Security

Varna, on the Black Sea, March 8, 2012 (BTA) – 

A centre for practical training of international maritime security teams will be built at the Varna Naval Academy (VNA). The news broke on Friday after statements by VNA Deputy Commander Kalin Kalinov and by Velislav Bonev, who owns the Austrian company Bodyguard and Security Association that operates in Austria, Germany and Italy.

The project was presented at a roundtable discussion on the fight against piracy and terrorism, which involved experts, Bulgarian Navy officials and NGOs.

Bonev said over 4700 pirate attacks have been committed worldwide in the last 13 years, including 210 attacks in 2012. These acts inflict between 9 and 12 billion US dollars in annual losses on the affected parties. Twenty ships are currently in captivity. All this calls for quality training of armed maritime security teams, Bonev said. Having armed and trained experts on board the ships is the best way to resist piracy, according to him.

Europe needs centralized practical training in maritime security, and Varna is a very good place to build a training centre as it has competent professionals and offers the best prices, he said. Even now, the VNA provides very good theoretical education in maritime security, but the practical part is missing, and the future centre will help fill the gap, Bonev said.

VNA Chief of Staff, Captain Kosta Andreev, said Bulgaria needs clear rules about the use of force in certain operations, like those applicable to EU and NATO operations. Such rules are also needed for merchant ships, Andreev said.

Kalinov noted that the VNA will launch a joint master programme with the Naval Academy in Constanta, Romania. LI/VE