The joint anti-terrorist actions during the exercise held on April 23-24, 2013, on the territory of the integrated ports of Varna and Burgas concluded successfully. The national exercise was jointly organized by the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure” and the Executive Agency “Maritime Administration” to assess the security status of the integrated ports, as well as to practice and improve the interaction between the agencies involved in the security of Bulgarian ports with various other agencies.
Among the main tasks of the exercise was not only the detention of potential perpetrators of terrorist acts but also the mitigation of consequences from such terrorist actions. Several scenarios were enacted, including an oil spill. The aim was to prevent the escalation of a potential crisis situation through rapid intervention by security officers of the integrated ports and good cooperation between the teams of SE “Port Infrastructure”, the Situation Center of the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, officers from the Regional Directorate “Border Police”, the Directorates of “Maritime Administration”, the Bulgarian Naval Forces, the Regional Directorate “Fire Safety and Population Protection”, the Regional Directorates of the Ministry of Interior, and others.
Another scenario involved responding to planted explosive devices, with the task for experts to locate and defuse them in a timely manner.
The training was conducted based on the Plan for conducting a security exercise in the integrated ports of “Varna” and “Burgas”, developed and approved by SE “Port Infrastructure” and the Executive Agency “Maritime Administration”. The actions also involved the participation of “Maintenance of Sea Water Cleanliness” JSC, the Basin Directorate for Water Management, and representatives of the coordinating emergency number 112.