Nicola Vaptsarov Naval Academy
The Naval Academy is the first marine and technical school in Bulgaria,
with 125 years of history. It was founded on 9th of January 1881 as a
Machine School for the Navy. Then, in 1904 it was promoted to a
secondary technical school for training technical personnel for the
Navy and for the Merchant Marine. First regular course of study to
train navigation officers for the Navy and for the Merchant fleet began
in 1919. In 1942 the school was promoted as ‘His Majesty's Naval
Academy', when there started training of deck officers and ship
engineers with a higher maritime education (bachelor degree). In 1949
the Naval Academy was renamed into ‘Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy'. It
was given the name of one of the school graduates, a famous poet, who
was shot down by the fascists as a head of antifascist military
organization in Bulgaria.
Nowadays the Naval Academy trains officers for the Bulgarian Navy
and the Merchant Marine according to world-acknowledged standards. This
elegant combination gives an opportunity to train naval officers
integrated educational of the merchant marine and gives them a civilian
specialty as well. This system provides military training to the
officers for the vessels that are necessary for sailing in dangerous
regions (areas of terrorists, pirates, military and peacekeeping
operations etc.). Eleven specialized departments are united in two
faculties - "Navigation" and "Engineering", where the training of the
following specialties is conducted: Deck Officers, Marine Engineers,
Fleet and Port Technologists and Managers, Ship repair technologists,
River Navigation, Ship Electricians and Ship Electronics Engineers. The
foreign language training includes a beginner and an advanced English
course, aiming at free every-day communication and professional usage.
There is also a post-graduate training centre.
The school conducts education and issues diplomas for bachelor, master degree and doctor of sciences. The education in Navigation and Ship power plants was approved by IMO and ‘Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy' was included in the ‘White List' as an educational institution with ‘approved education'. The Naval Academy is a member of the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) and International Maritime Lecturers Association (IMLA), which is a part of IMO.
