Bulgaria's Sea Administration Executive Agency is starting the realisation of two partnership projects, the Transport Ministry said on January 28 2009. The two projects, which are planned to continue for six months, are called Increasing Capacity for Preventing the Pollution of the Danube River with Oil and Other Harmful Substances, and Increasing Capacity for Preventing the Pollution of the Black Sea with Oil and Other Harmful Substances.

The overall goal is to improve the administrative capabilities of the executive agency, particularly in relation to improving the communication among all Bulgarian agencies in the field connected to environmental preservation and boat-related pollution. It is hoped that by developing co-operation at a regional level, there will better monitoring and prevention of these situations - and that the improvement will lead to an increase in tourism, fishing and other industries related to river and sea.

The Danube River project will be done together with experts from the German transport and construction ministry. Based in the Sea Administration offices in Rousse and Lom will be observation and regulatory bodies. The project also foresees the creation of a database system to en register pollution generated by every boat on the river. This will make use of CleanSeaNet, a satellite-based monitoring system for marine oil-spill detection and surveillance in European waters.

Finland's sea administration will partner with the Black Sea project, where the Bourgas and Varna offices of Bulgaria's Sea Administration will be the centres for instruction of better managing and controlling boats that enter Bulgarian harbours, along with applying international standards to disposal of waste water. The goal is to improve co-ordination among Bulgarian bodies, and, particularly, for Sea Administration to increase its ability to stop boats' pollution of the sea.

Financing for these projects comes from Phare and from the state Budget.

[In Bulgarian, the Danube River project: Изграждане на капацитет за предотвратяване на замърсяване с нефт и други вредни вещества от кораби по река Дунав. The Black Sea project: Изграждане на капацитет за предотвратяване на замърсяване с нефт и други вредни вещества от кораби в Черно море.]