The Bulgarian Maritime Pilots Association (BMPA) was established on 29.10.1992 as a non-profit association with main activities aimed at protecting the members’ rights of labor, professional training and additional qualification, as well as social insurance. The association members are 60 pilots organized in two stations in Bourgas and in Varna.
In order to continuously enhance the technical quality of the service and using the experience and recommendations of other pilot organizations BMPA became a member of the European Association of Maritime Pilots (EMPA) in 1993.
Pilotage in Bulgarian ports is compulsory as in all European ports. Foreign flagged ships of 100 GT and above and Bulgarian ships of 300 GT and above are under mandatory pilotage.
The professional pilotage organizations in different countries vary but it is always controlled by the State. Bulgaria is no exception. The pilot is ultimately responsible for the safety of shipping. Pilotage services are govern by the Merchant Shipping Code and regulated by the Pilotage Ordinance. They are provided by self-employed pilots. According to the Ordinance requirements only one pilot station is authorized to provide pilotage in certain pilotage area. To meet the high criteria of the Ordinance for providing the service the Ministry of Transport holds competitions between the candidates. The pilotage organization which has won the competition is granted the right to provide the service for three years. An important condition for acquiring a license is the possession of a Certificate of Quality. For this purpose the two pilot stations in Bourgas and in Varna were certified by LRQA according to the requirement of ISO9001-2000 as early as in 1999. In April 2004 the quality criteria were successfully confirmed by an independent audit for another 3 years. This coincided with the next competition between the pilot stations for acquiring a license. It was then when it was announced that the introduction of the International Standard for Maritime Pilot Organizations (ISPO-CODE) is in progress. This is a new management standard in which the procedures and methods are clearly defined and controlled. The main objective is again the care for the pilots’ position and their organization in combination with the care for the safety and risk assessment.
The Bulgarian Maritime Pilots Association (BMPA) was established on 29.10.1992 as a non-profit association with main activities aimed at protecting the members’ rights of labor, professional training and additional qualification, as well as social insurance. The association members are 60 pilots organized in two stations in Bourgas and in Varna.
