The coastal radio station Varna Radio was established in 1947 and has maintained communication with ships passing by the Bulgarian coasts for 67 years.
Today, Varna Radio is part of the structure of the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure” and is one of the elements that make up the vessel traffic management system.
In its early years (until 1957), Varna Radio operated with trophy equipment from ships. As early as 1954, the radio station had a radiotelephone connection used in cases of disasters and for broadcasting safety messages in “radiotelephony” mode on the frequency of 2182 kilohertz – the internationally accepted distress frequency established by the World Radiocommunication Conference in the year of the establishment of the coastal radio station – Varna.
Between 1957 and 1969, the coastal radio station was gradually modernized, and two modern radio centers for their time were built – the Radio Transmission Center in Kitka (1974) and the Radio Reception Center in Kichevo (1977), which are still operational today.
In the years before the introduction of the INMARSAT satellite communication system, Varna Radio was the only link with ships under the Bulgarian flag and with foreign ships visiting Bulgarian ports or transiting. At that time, more than 100 specialists worked in the radio centers, mainly Morse code and radiotelephony operators, and about 30 engineering and technical staff. The Radio Transmission Center in Kitka had 25 transmitters, of which almost 20 were operational simultaneously.
In 1987 – 1988, the International Maritime Organization of the UN put into operation the international NAVTEX system. Varna Radio was assigned the functions of broadcasting NAVTEX messages for the maritime areas of Bulgaria and Romania, which continues to this day. The NAVTEX system disseminates specialized maritime safety information – navigational warnings, weather forecasts, search and rescue messages.
Since 1995, Varna Radio has been one of the first GMDSS stations in the Black Sea region to broadcast messages within the A2 zone – medium waves. In 2004, as part of the VTMIS project – phase 1, funded by the PHARE program, an A1 zone for VHF dissemination of GMDSS was established. Varna Radio station continuously monitors distress radio channels, disseminates maritime safety information, and participates in search and rescue communications, in cooperation with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center.
Currently, experts from the State Enterprise “Port Infrastructure” are working on phase 3 of the VTMIS project – “Vessel Traffic Management Information System.” One of the activities of this project is related to the expansion and technological renewal of GMDSS capabilities. A completely new VHF system, built with modern technological means, is to be developed. NAVTEX transmitters will be completely renewed, and 3 new transmitters for the A2 zone (medium waves) will be installed. Bulgaria’s GMDSS system will be updated with the most modern equipment according to world standards and will be managed from the operational center, which will be located in the newly constructed Coastal Information Center – Varna, also within the project.
In the analogous Coastal Information Center in Burgas, a backup equivalent operational capability for GMDSS is planned, ensuring the security and reliability of communications. The GMDSS system will benefit from the powerful computing capabilities of the two new computing centers, also developed within the VTMIS project – phase 3. This will not only increase the reliability of communication but also provide many more user functions, which are particularly important for operators to perform their tasks quickly, adequately, and very precisely.
Project BG 161 PO 004-4.0.01-0005 “Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) – phase 3” is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Program “Transport” 2007 – 2013 with over 32 million leva.
