Navibulgar is expanding its fleet with a new ship

Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar) is about to increase its fleet with a new addition. On 1 April at the Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. shipyard in China, the flag was raised on the fifth ship in the company's history. It bears the name Rodina (Motherland).

This happened just days after the flag-raising ceremony for the 45,500-ton bulk carrier Bulgaria was performed at the same shipyard. The godmother of Rodina was Daniela Minkova - an employee in the legal department of the Advance Properties company.

The first captain of Rodina will be Capt. Ivan Stefanov Todorov, and the first chief mechanic – Georgi Trayanov Kolev. The same marine "duo" was also at that shipyard on 2 August 2023 to receive Slavyanka - the eighth in a series of twelve 32,150-ton bulk carriers.

In his speech during the celebration of the new ship completion, the executive director of Navibulgar AD Capt. Alexander Kalchev pointed out that the Chinese partners have already delivered 16 ships to the Bulgarian company. Another 6 are under construction, and three more ships are to be ordered.

This business partnership, taking expression in the construction of 25 ships, is an unprecedented achievement in the most recent part of the 132-year history of Navibulgar and it shall continue," Kalchev commented.

The new Rodina ship is actually the fifth to bear this name in Bulgarian shipping history. The first Rodina (1935 - 1941) was the largest Bulgarian merchant ship of its time (6510 t load capacity). The second (1946 - 1975) and the third (1978 - 2008) became training vessels for several generations of Bulgarian sailors. With the fourth Rodina (2010 - 2021), the new owners of Navibulgar fulfilled a promise that there would always be a ship with that name. The tradition now carries on with the fifth ship in the company's history with this name.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov