Bulgaria Completes First Phase Of Fleet Renewal Initiative

摘要

The Bulgarian Navy took delivery of two former Belgian Maritime Component ships on 9 February: the Wielln-gen-class frigate Verni and the Flower-class minehunter Tslbar.rnThey were due to leave Zeebrugge naval base on 11 February, with Ver-ni (ex-BNS Wlellngen) sailing for Burgas on the Black Sea - where it will join Bulgaria's Frigate Squadron -and Tslbar (ex-BNS Myosotis) heading for Varna. Both vessels are scheduled to arrive in their new homeports on 2 March.rnThe handover ceremony at Zeebrugge completes the first phase of Bulgaria's fleet renewal programme, which was Initiated In December 2004 with the Intention of building naval interoperability with NATO forces. Two former Belgian frigates have already been transferred. Drazkl (ex-BNS Wandelaar) was handed over to the Bulgarian Navy in October 2005 with the second frigate, Gordi (ex-rnBNS Westdlep), following in August 2008. Phases two and three of the renewal programme are likely to result in the acquisition of two new corvettes and up to six second-hand mine-countermeasure vessels.