site.btaBulgaria, Georgia to Mutually Recognize Seafarers' Certificates for Coastal Navigation

Bulgaria's Maritime Administration Executive Agency and Georgia's Maritime Transport Agency Thursday signed an agreement on the mutual recognition of seafarers' certificates in accordance with Rule I/3 of the 1987 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. The document was signed within the visit here of a Georgian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Guram Guramishvili, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications said in a press release.

The agreement is applicable to seafarers certified for coastal navigation by one of the two countries and serving aboard ships flying the flag of the other country.

During talks between the two delegations, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Anna Natova said that the agreement opens new opportunities for development of sustainable multi-modal transport connectivity between Asia and Europe. There are regular ferries between the ports of Burgas and Varna in Bulgaria and Poti and Batumi in Georgia, but new prospects should be sought to increase the exchange of goods. The new geopolitical situation in Europe leaves Black Sea countries facing new challenges, particularly in terms of ferry transport development, she noted. She presented the ports of Burgas and Varna as modern terminals with the capacity to increase the transportation of containers between the two countries. 

Deputy Minister Guramishvili expressed his countries' support for the development of ferry connections. Another sector where the bilateral cooperation can be broadened is railway transport, he added. The two delegations agreed that a memorandum of cooperation between their countries' railway administrations could be drafted.