During its 135 years long history, the Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov”, proved itself as an undoubted leader of the Bulgarian maritime education. The Academy is approved by the International Maritime Organization of the United Nations Organization— London. Many difficulties and successes have been filling the long way of the establishment and the development of Naval Academy, which well-earned received national and international acknowledgement: enrolment in the White List of IMO and Certificate of Quality ISO 9002.4 and ISO 9000:2000 of Lloyd Registers. The Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” received institutional accreditation from The National Accreditation and Assessment Agency subordinate to The Ministerial Council of Bulgaria.
Thanks to the unique traditions and potential The Naval Academy possesses the ability to realize its main mission: to train commanding and operational staff for the Navy and for the Merchant Sea and Inland Fleet. A number of countries such as Japan, Germany, Turkey, Greece etc. demonstrated a high interest in this experience during the anniversary year 2016. There are more than 150 foreign students from 20 countries from Europe, Asia, America and Africa studying in the Naval Academy.
I. Short historical information about establishment and development of Naval Academy as a national symbol of Bulgaria.
A necessity for the free country to receive admission from the world public aroused after the Bulgarian liberation from the Turkish yoke in 1878. This was only possible if the country broke the current borders and received a sea outlet. The bigger part of the Bulgarian borders is aquatic and it was vitally necessary Navy and Merchant Fleet to be created and the national flag to be flied in the World Ocean. This was how the newly liberated country begun to affirm its identity but this need required marine staff training. Naval Academy was established on the 9th of January, 1881 in Rouse and Bulgarian country was its constituter. Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” was founded as a technical school first but it started training marine staff soon.
We succeeded to find the original documents from 1881 for the establishment of the school. Professor Iliya Peev and Siyana Struncheva, an art teacher, developed a Triptych which they dedicated to the 135th anniversary of Naval Academy establishment.
The Bulgarian marine officers, trained at Naval Academy, replaced the foreign captains and engineers managing the Bulgarian ships. They won the marine labor market competition as soon as the beginning of the XXth century.
The establishment and the development of Naval Academy ”N. Y. Vaptsarov” were based on strong marine laws, thanks to which it became a national symbol. The Marine school has moved to Varna as Mechanical School of the Navy in 1900. The School has received high technical school rights in 1904. The Marine school has been given higher military school status in 1942 and staff for the Navy and for the Merchant fleet at sea and river Danube has been trained. Higher engineer naval school status has been given to The Marine School in 1956 and all the trainees for the Navy and for the Merchant fleet started receiving qualification engineer. This qualification is kept to nowadays and it fully corresponds to the international demands to the maritime engineers (IMarE). The International Maritime Organization of the United Nations Organization has audit the school for the first time in 1960 and since then internationally recognized diplomas for maritime specialists have been issued.
Since the establishment of Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” a few basic traditions were developed and they have been preserved till nowadays:
- Combining undivided authority with academism.
- Integrative staff training for both Navy and Merchant fleet.
- Training in marine style of life.
- Unbreakable unanimity of theoretical training and sailing practice.
- Adaptation to the new requirements and high quality of the maritime education, affirmation the school as a center of the maritime education in Bulgaria.
- Strictly following the international standards regarding training maritime officer’s staff.
These traditions define the content of the main motto of the Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov”: “Duty. Honor. Dignity. Professionalism.”. Thanks to these traditions the quality of the Bulgarian maritime education at Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” is fully appropriate to the national legislation, standards of IMO, London, London Institute of Maritime Engineers (IMarE), International Standards Organization (ISO), Lloyd Register, STCW’ 1995/2010 convention.
II. The Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” adjusted its training programmes to meet the new IMO requirements.
The Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” is the first unique school, training during its 135 years long history staff together both for the needs of The Navy and The Merchant Fleet. This unique experience has been preserved under the new IMO requirements. The school plans and the curriculum were quickly reorganized in correspondence to the Seafers’ Training Certification and Watchkeeping Code 1978/1995/2010 (STCW’1995/2010 Code), placing the human factor at the center of the marine profession! IMO, Lloyd Register, IAMU and the National assembly admit the unanimity and unity of the Bulgarian military and civil education at Maritime school! The merchant fleet staff training must include special marine endurance elements, which impose a specific training and educational regime. During the naval education and the service at the Navy a number of valuable personal characteristics, basic for the marine profession are being developed: ability to live and work reliable in socially and physically closed environment; capacity for long living together and stable professional activity in conditions of personal satiety and sensor deprivation; team work skills and habits; high psychic stability; skills for bearing privations and coping with extreme situations; possessing discipline, punctuality, adaptation, personal responsibility, communicating skills, logical and critical thinking; ability to accept reasonable and realized risk; capability for adequate estimation of the situation and taking relevant decisions in deficit of time; purposefulness.
The Naval Academy “N. Y. Vaptsarov” trainees prepare to manage the sophisticated socially-technical systems — the contemporary ship crews (often multinational) in extreme conditions. Using the approved by I MO in 1998 education plans and curriculums Naval Academy placed accent to the next mentioned fields, methods and forms of training, which are peculiar fairway of the quality.
III. Environment and regime of maritime education:
The entire environment and the system of training and education as well as the physical, marine and psychic endurance of the cadets and students define the development of the professional mariners. The maritime education is accomplished in regime closed to the ship’ schedule. There are two possibilities of training — with government sponsorship or on own support and payment. The marine profession demands education under “cadets conditions” with harsh regime of live and activity, closed to the ship’s conditions, hierarchy and relationships. The cadets and the students studying at the Naval Academy “N.Vaptsarov” have chosen a difficult career, filled with privations and harsh life conditions. The maritime profession requires strong longing for intellectual and physical work. The maritime officers are responsible for the safety of the cruise, the technical equipment and the crew member’s and passenger’s lives.
The knowledge, the experience, the life energy and the sense of the duty help them passing the probation at sea successfully and to meet the extreme trust. The cadets keep the ship hierarchy rules, live in a campus, study the ship language and marine terminology, learn to live in small groups in social isolation out of the outside world, go trough special systems of psychic and physic endurance during their education. They are trained in swimming, rowing and yachting. In that kind of environment the trainees learn submission, punctuality, discipline, personal responsibility, leadership and ability to make decisions in dynamic and unpredictable circumstances. This is how the marine character hardens and the cadets gain marine spirit.
There is a newly built up system at the school about developing the cadets and the students as leaders. Books about the leadership have been issued,multileveled programs about creating and developing leadership characteristics have been set up.
Game based methods of education are widely used — conducting situational business games in English, during the psychology classes and Tactics at the navy. The ‘whole information needed about the new requirements, tendencies and achievements in the international maritime sailing have been receiving at the Naval Academy trough the Internet. The lecturer’s stuff operatively implements in the lectures information about the latest technical achievements, and the achievements in the science and world sailing and solves the problems with providing the students and cadets with information. IMO courses are being organised and the IMO requirements are being studied.
Classical and modem methods for simulator training and sailing practice, which build up high professionalism and abilities for crisis management:
The curriculums of all specialties at the school have been renewed according to the STCW’ 1995/2010 requirements; the training at the simulator has been activated — navigating the ship, radar and ARPA simulators, electronic charts, GMDSS, survivability.
According to the regulation 1.12 of STCW’95 using simulators, while training ship specialists is mandatory. The simulator complexes for the navigators and engineers at Naval Academy play role of the situational simulators ECMS (Center’s Environmental Crisis Management Simulator) and CMTS (Center for Marine Training and Safety) demanded by the world maritime standards demanded.
Deduction and conclusions:
- The symbiosis between the maritime education for the Navy and for the Merchant fleet is unique in Bulgaria and it is legitimate since the last century. This process needs the government concern and the national maritime politics. It has to be preserved and developed, because it brings high profit in currency and ads quality to our national culture — military, maritime, technical, technological, transport, educational, scientific, economical, financial, commercial and spiritual!
- The integrative education of cadets and students for the Navy and for the Merchant fleet at Naval Academy “N. Vaptsarov” is in interest of our national security and will contribute to our quicker incorporation to NATO.
- 135th anniversary of Naval Academy establishment is a good start for its development in XXI century. Naval Academy “N. Vaptsarov” is being given the high honor to be a host of the 18th Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) in 2017. This event puts the academic staff, the navy society, the merchant fleet and the maritime industry in new responsibilities and tests.
- Wfe invite all maritime universities and institutes to participate the 18th Annual General Assembly IAMU in 2017 in Varna and to develop mutual International maritime project with a subject: “Influence of the human element over the culture of safety of shipping — cognitive and social and psychological aspects”. This project harmonizes completely with the world development report 2017 of the Wforld Bank „MIND, SOCIETY, AND BEHAVIOR and could receive its approval and support.
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