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Black
Sea provides a maritime lifeline for the 87 million people living in the
bordering countries. The Sea is playing an increasingly important role
in the International Shipping. The rich diversity of shipping interests,
from row materials, port and technical activity, shipowning, shipagency,
bunkering and ship repair, all contribute to the growing shipping interest.
The hinterland of the Port of Bourgas comprises the Southern Bulgaria,
but also the Macedonia, Serbia and some land locked countries. Presently,
the Bulgarian Railways network and the Bulgarian National Road System as
well as Bourgas International Airport link the Port of Bourgas with the
major industrial inland points of the Balkans. Development and extension
work on the national highway network is now steadily under way. Bourgas
and its hinterland will be even closer together when these network projects
are completed. As concerns the sea routes, Port of Bourgas is linked to
various areas of Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea by feeders and Ro-Ro connections,
ensuring an effective marine transport network.
2. Bulgaria
Bulgaria is situated on the
West Coast of the Black Sea. The territory of the country is 110 912 sq.
km. and the population is about 8 963 000 people. The official language
is Bulgarian. Bulgaria is situated on the West Coast of the Black Sea.
The territory of the country is 110 912 sq. km. and the population is about
8 963 000 people. The official language is Bulgarian. The capital of the
country is Sofia with a population 1 115 000 people. Time is GMT + 2 hours.
Bulgaria keeps summertime. Official currency is Bulgarian Lev. Starting
July 1 1997 the Law of Currency board was introduced. Bulgarian Lev had
been pegged to the DEM at a fixed rate of exchange 1000 Leva per 1 DEM.
There are international airports in Sofia, Bourgas and Varna. The main
international seaports are Port of Bourgas and Port of Varna. Russe, Lom,
Vidin and Silistra are the main international river Danube ports.
3. Port of Bourgas – the key to the gateway to Europe and Asia
Port of Bourgas is the biggest and busiest Bulgarian port serving all big industrial centers south from the Balkans as well as a lot of transit cargoes destined for or originate from Macedonia, Serbia and Central European countries. Port of Bourgas fulfills the role of a hub for number of key trading areas of Black Sea significance. The well-established communication networks connects the port with its natural hinterland and make it an important junction link between the old Continent and the Middle East.Bourgas is a big transport center. Nearby is the most reliable and sunniest international airport in Bulgaria. Bulgarian railway and road infrastructure is well developed and serves the intensive passenger and freight traffic. Bourgas City is characterized by great number of hotels of different quality as well as close-by position of the best Bulgarian International resorts. The international connections are eased by the perfect GSM coverage of the town and the whole surrounded area.Every year the port is visited by almost 2000 vessels. The annual average cargo output ranges between 6.5 and 9.5 million tons of general and bulk cargoes and from 8 up to 15 million tons of liquid bulk cargoes. There are conventional liner shipping services connecting Port of Bourgas with other Black Sea ports as well as with major HUB Mediterranean ports.
Bulgarian container operator BULCON offers from Bourgas worldwide container services on fortnighly bases. The biggest Bulgarian trucking company SOMAT maintains a Ro-Ro connection between Bourgas and Poty in Georgia as well between Bourgas and Novorossiysk in Russia on weekly bases. NAVIBULGAR provides conventional liner service from Bourgas to North Continent and UK by modern Ro-Lo vessels carrying not only general cargoes but also containers and trailers. PCC service from the Far East is available serving passenger’s car traffic from South Korea and Japan to the whole Black Sea market.
Bourgas
is the port at the center of the Transeuropean corridor No. 8 - from Italy
via Albania and Macedonia to the Mid Asia. The port is situated on the
West Coast of the Black Sea at the head of the Bay of Bourgas and it is
the first large seaport for vessel entering the Black Sea.The harbour is
well protected from the winds and waves and has a very easy access from
the sea. A safe anchorage with good holding ground can be obtained just
outside the breakwater. The density of the water is about 1012 o/oo- 1014
o/oo. There are no strong currents and tides that can affect navigation.
The prevailing winds during the winter are from N or NE direction and during
the summer are daily variables. There are no gales. The port is open for
manoeuvering throughout the year and there are no interruptions of handling
because of the weather. Bourgas is the sunniest place in the whole Black
Sea area. Even during the very strong winter there are no ice. Generally
speaking the hydrological and meteorological conditions are the best for
the whole Black Sea region and the port is open for handling and manoeuvering
throughout the year without any interruptions. High experienced pilots
are available 24 hours throughout the year. On Master’s request pilotage
is available from the East turning point about 16 Miles East from the port.
Eleven tugboats with a towage capacity from 600 up to 2400 HP are serving
the port round the clock. The tugs are owned and managed by the Port of
Bourgas. Adequate depths 11,00 m. alongside permit berthing of the vessels
up to 65 000 t. DWT.
4. Port of Bourgas – now
All port facilities are under the jurisdiction of the Port of Bourgas Authority and their activities and development presently are centrally planned, coordinated and supervised. Situated within an area of less than 30 Nautical Miles, they compliment each other in terms of facilities and traffic, constituting one large port in effect. In combination they service all types of cargo and without competing one another, they jointly cater to the country’s local and transit traffic requirements.There are 23 berths for general cargo ships, 4 berths for bulk cargoes, 3 piers for tankers and 2 Ro-Ro berths. The total length of the quays are 3905 m. Open storage area is 307 500 sq. and there are 87 130 sq.m. warehouses. The total cold store area is 18 000 sq. m.The total turnover of the Port of Bourgas as well as the number of vessels and their GT show steady trend.
Seaborn traffic is served in Bourgas by modern and highly integrated port system, which presently incorporates:
East Harbour
Bulk Harbour
West Harbour
Lozovo Buffer Warehouse Base
Oil Harbour
Pomorie Harbour
Nessebar Harbour
Sozopol Harbour
Tzarevo Harbour
4.1. Port East
Port East is situated
at the old east basin. With its central location, the port is one of the
busiest sites of the complex. General cargoes of all kind, non-ferrous
metals and foodstuff are handled there. Large asphalt-paved areas and covered
warehouses can be used for storing goods. There are railway lines in the
majority of quay areas. The port comprises berths with a maximum depth
of 10,00 m. and is equipped with electric shore cranes of SWL 16 t. Port
management aims to create extra space to meet the growing demand of the
general cargo clients by using existing sites more intensively and efficiently.
The terminal is competitive in terms of speed handling and score not only
in the market of non-ferrous metals but also in the field of foodstuffs,
wood, paper, bagged salt, fertilizers and bentonite, equipment and heavy
projects.
4.2. Bulk Terminal
A substantial proportion
of the raw materials for the industrial sites of the Balkan peninsular
pass through the Port of Bourgas. With a bulk cargo throughput of approximately
7 million tonnes a year, Bourgas is one of the most important ports in
whole Black sea for the transshipment of bulk cargo. The bulk terminal
offers depths of 11,00 m and can accommodate panamax bulkers up to 65 000
t DWT. It has 4 berths and storage area for handling coal, ore, concentrates
and clinker. The newest facility is coal unloader type SIWERTELL that has
a coal discharging capacity 1200 t/hour.
4.3. Port West
Port West has depths alongside 11,00
m and is equipped with cranes of up to 40 t SWL. The port handles generally
metals of all kind, Ro-Ro and container traffic. The port has become Bulgaria’s
leading terminal for metal exports. This means that a very large proportion
of Bulgaria’s surplus metal production is shipped overseas from Port West.
The port's perfect size, location and depth of water, combined with targeted
investment program in warehouse and loading facilities which are ideal
for any kind of metals, have led to strong cooperation with the most demanding
customers. Stockpiles metals of all kinds are stowed properly in the open
area or warehouses as per the requirements of the clients. The specialized
terminals at the Port West work round the clock, 7 days a week.
4.4. Container Terminal
The container terminal is situated at Port of Bourgas West and includes one berth for container vessels, No. 23 with a total length 200 m. and maximum depth alongside 11.00 m. There are no space, time or regulatory constrains to the use of the port’s facilities. Vessel’s turnaround time is optimized. Handling rates are of the order of 15 containers per crane per hour matching those provided in the case of ordinary crane use. Container yard is situated on an area of about 60 000 sq. m. There are 1330 ground slots. Presently the containers are stowed on 3 tears high. The reefer installations include 50 plugs. The monitoring of the activities and container movements, documentation and information exchange between terminal and operators are fully computerized and this plays key role in keeping the container flow moving smoothly and efficiently.
Other standard elements of the service package offered to the regular and large scale transshipment operators include berthing of vessels on arrival and immediate commencement of operations on "all times guarantee" basis, allocation of storage space for exclusive long term use as well as throughput related discount, rebates and other performance geared financial incentives.
Generally speaking the terminal
is well equipped and relatively unoccupied with good communications and
large stacking area. Bulgarian container operator BULCON keeps fortnighly
sailing from Bourgas and usually about 300 containers are discharged /
loaded in about 20 hours.
4.5. Cold Store
The latest development was the opening of a new cold store on March 20, 1998. This has a capacity of 10 000 tones and houses seven cold store halls, with working temperatures from –25 C to +4 C. The equipment was supplied by Danish manufacturer DC System Insulation.
The new cold store is linked directly
to the container and Ro-Ro terminals, with railway access on the side and
23 truck loading ramps of the other. Together with the existing capacity
we have 20 000 tones cold storage available at Bourgas now.
4.6. Ro-Ro
For the past years Port of Bourgas has been the fastest growing automotive and Ro-Ro handling port in the region.
SOMAT – Bulgarian trucking company, maintains weekly sailings from Bourgas to the east coast of the Black sea thus providing a vital sealink of the TRACECA transport corridor. This is a company with over 30 years of experience and owner of more than 1500 trucks. Its 4 Ro-Ro river ships, sailing the Passau-Vidin route keep contact between Central and Western Europe and Bulgaria where Ro-Ro lines between Bourgas - Poty and Novorossiysk prolong it to the Middle Asia.
The mega passenger car shippers Daewoo and Hyundai use Bourgas Duty Free Zone as a distribution center for the whole Balkan peninsular and Ukraine.
Ro-Ro:
1996 1997 1998
Poty 830 5725
Novorossiysk 0 1013
Automotive:
7000 5000
4.7. Oil Port
The Oil port is situated about 3 Miles southeast from the breakwater.
Crude oil and oil products are handled at 3 state-of-the-art terminals in accordance with the latest developments of the environment friendly technologies. The stationary fire posts ensure fire safety on the vessels and powerful specialized tugboats are stand-by there.
Tankers up to 100 000 DWT and maximum
draft 12.65 m. can be berthed safely there. The port is well protected
from the sea and has a very easy access. It handles the whole oil traffic
to and from Bulgarian refinery Neftochim that is the biggest one on the
Balkans.
5. Port of Bourgas – the future
Master Plan for development of Port of Bourgas till 2015 presents an ambitious program, affecting the real needs and considering nature opportunities. The plan is worked out by a group of high - qualified specialists and it is approved by the Ministry of Transport, as well as by the Ministry of Environment.
The plan foresees under - stage
and parallel building of 4000 m quay walls, divided in four modern specialized
terminals as follows:
Terminal 1: for general and liquid cargoes. It includes a defended breakwater.
Terminal No 1 will have four berths with total lengths of 750 m. Its annual handling capacity will be:
60 000 tons of liquid chemicals
45 000 tons of spirits, wine and wine distillates.
600 000 tons of fuel
350 000 tons of general cargoes
700 000 tons annual covered storage capacity
Terminal 2: for bulk cargoes (for vessels up to 100 000 DWT, with max. LOA - 260 - 270 m and max. draft - 13 - 15.50 m.) and for metals.
Terminal No. 2 will have 6 berths with total lengths of 1580 meters to be built at 3 stages and its final annual handling capacity will be:
3 400 000 tons of coals
1 500 000 tons of ores
1 000 000 tons of general cargoes
Terminal 3: Ro - Ro and Ferry Terminal.
The total berth lengths will be 380 meters, which will be constructed in two stages. The handling capacity will be 1 300 000 tons per year.
Terminal 4: Container Terminal
Terminal 4 will have 2 berths with a total lengths of 450 meters and its estimated annual capacity is 150 000 TEU. An area for building of grain handling terminal is being foreseen between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The prepared feasibility study of the terminals, which is a part of the Master Plan for the port development, prognosticates 270 million USD as a total amount of investments. Terms of returning are quite favorable for that type of construction. The next decade the massive investment in upgrading and expanding Bourgas port’s infrastructure is expected. These days, Port of Bourgas is to receive about $120m Japanese funding for construction of new terminals. The project is expected to begin at the end of the 1998, and the top priority will be the new breakwater, a bulk terminal and a container terminal. Funding will come from Japan’s Overseas Co-operation Fund in a contract recently signed with the Bulgarian transport minister Vilhelm Kraus. The loan conditions are a 30 years payback period, ten years gratis period and 2.7 per cent interest.
Port of Bourgas, the
largest in the country is one of the most important Bulgarian infrastructure
assets because of the major role it plays in supporting the national and
regional economies. It is the maritime gateway for the country’s foreign
trade and provides the basic support for the requirements of the Bulgaria’s
comprehensive development plans trough the receipt of the import and the
export. Offering a fully tailored service to meet the exact requirements
and to satisfy the growing demands of the customers and partners Port of
Bourgas is steering to the new millenium.