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Bulgaria: Shipping Lines

Last modified: 2011-07-02 by rob raeside
Keywords: bulgarski morski flot |
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Bulgarian River Shipping

image by Eugene Ipavec, 5 January 2010

Bulgarian River Shipping or Параходство българско речно плаване - is an inland shipping company established at Ruse or Rousse on the Danube, N. Bulgaria. Website, English version: http://www.brp.bg/en/index.html

From the ‘Company Profile’ (top or left menu) we learn that the firm was founded in 1935 and originally named Coastal River Navigation (Речно крайбрежно плаване) till 1940 when the fleet was composed of bulk vessels (including refrigerated ones), passengers ships, a ferry, tugs, and barges. After WWII the fleet would expand to eventually comprise over three hundred vessels of various kinds now also including tankers, roll-on roll off ships, etc.  BRS’s current area of activity is the Danube and connected waterways between the Black Sea and the Rhine.  Besides the main office there are seven local offices in neighbouring countries.

BRS offers waterway transportation including container traffic, ferries, etc.; multimodal transportation; freighting and chartering; and agency services.  The ‘Fleet’ page presents a number of vessels and the central composite photo on the last row (clickable) shows a tiny drawing of the house flag – a white field bearing a light blue saltire and, in the centre, a coat of arms with an anchor: http://www.brp.bg/en/fleet.html. The link to current company “arms”, also in evidence on the company website (background of ‘Contacts’ page; with a foul anchor, heading of website): http://www.mdaar.government.bg/imgm/getgallery/middle/Rousse_JSCo.jpg. Within a blue shield outline are placed blue waves on which appears a blue anchor, fimbriated; a blue shield bears the company initials “BRP” in Cyrillic script: “БРП”.  The tiny flag picture linked to shows the outline, the anchor, and the initials in black. I have not yet seen a photo but a version found on the Dutch ‘Binnenvaart’ site, surely older, shows a black outline and anchor, red waves, and a green chief bearing white initials.  This choice of colours is not so odd if we recall the national flag.

Jan Mertens, 22 December 2009


Bulgarian Steam Navigation Company

by Jarig Bakker

Originally located on a postcard on this page, a flag quartered per saltire, green above, red below, and white to the hoist and fly.
Jan Martens, 30 April 2005

Bulgarian Steam Navigation Co. Full name was Société Commerciale Bulgare de Navigation à Vapeur, formed 1892 and based in Varna. The flag is shown by Lloyds 1912 and various Talbot-Booth publications between 1937 and 1944. It also appears to be the same company referred to under different names in "Communist Ships and Shipping" by Harbron 1962 i.e. the Bulgarian Commercial Navigation Co. or Bulgarsko Turgovsko Plavatelno Druzhestvo. After WW2 it became Navigation Maritime Bulgare under the Bulgarian Government.
Neale Rosanoski, 26 November 2007


Bălgarski Morski Flot (Bulgarian Merchant Navy)
Български Морски Флот

by Francisco Santos

Bălgarski Morski Flot (Bulgarian Merchant Navy) is among the ten biggest enterprises in Bulgaria. It's a state-owned company and it's expected to be privatized (or is already, I'm not sure), as Bulgaria joins the EU rules. In a stamp of 1992 there is the BMF ship "Varna" and a little flag of the company.
Francisco Santos, 03 June 2003

The Bălgarski Morski Flot flag is shown by Brown 1978 to 1995 under its major component Navigation Maritime Bulgare which was founded 15.9.1947. Apparently Bălgarski Morski Flot was also originally known as Inflot. In 1970 there was a reorganization of the shipping industry with passenger ships placed under Balkantourist [also shown as "Bulkandship" or "Balkanship" State Passenger Lines i.e. different books = different translations, tankers under Bulgarski Tanker Flot [Bulet] and dry cargo ships under Navigation Maritime Bulgare. Chartering was done by Bulfrakht and the fleet deployment was controlled by Bălgarski Turgovski Flot. This somewhat complicated state of affairs does not seem to have lasted long and Lloyds now show the merchant fleet as all under Navigation Maritime Bulgare which is still controlled by the Bulgarian Government although in 2000 a 43.7% holding was acquired by British Orient Holdings.
Neale Rosanoski, 26 November 2007


Donau-Rhein Logistik GmbH

image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 January 2010

This page is all I could find on Donau-Rhein Logistik GmbH, in fact a Bulgarian company established at Ruse and Lom, both situated in the North of the country, on the right bank of the River Danube: http://www.preymesser.de/schifffahrt/ruse.htm.

According to this source, DRL is active as a freight forwarder (including shipping), warehousing, and management and agency services.The house flag, shown as a drawing, is white with two narrow horizontal edges, blue, and bearing the company initials “DRL”  (apparently italic; no serifs) in blue near the hoist.  

Jan Mertens, 21 December 2009