Danube Safety Net

On the 14^th of September, 2018 in Calarasi, Romania the Managing Authority of the INTERREG V-A Romania-Bulgaria Programme 2014-2020, Executive Agency “Maritime Administration” and the Romanian Naval Authority signed a subsidy contract for the implementation of project “Improvement of the Transport Safety in the Common Bulgarian-Romanian Stretch of the Danube River through Development of the Emergency Response by Cross-Border Cooperation” – Danube Safety Net Project, e-MS code: ROBG-522.

The starting date of Danube Safety Net Project is 15^th of September 2018, with duration of 36 months. The project will be implemented by two Partners: the Bulgarian Executive Agency “Maritime Administration” (EAMA) – Lead Partner and the Romanian Naval Authority (RNA) – Project Partner.

The Danube Safety Net Project was approved within the Third Call for Proposals under the INTERREG V-A RO-BG Programme 2014-2020, Priority area 1 “A well connected region”, Specific objective “Increase transport safety on waterways and maritime transport routes”.

The overall budget of the Danube Safety Net Project is 5 699 612.87 euro of which 85 % are provided by the European Rural Development Fund (ERDF) and 15 % are national co-financing.

The main objective of the Danube Safety Net Project is to improve the safety of river Danube navigability for the whole length of the common stretch between Romania and Bulgaria.

The formulated goal will be achieved trough:

• Development of Common action plan for reaction in situations related to transport safety on the common stretch of the Danube river;
• Establishment of Emergency Response centers (ERC) in Ruse, Lom and Turnu Magurele;
• Supply, development and integration of common Danube Transport Safety Geographic Information System;
• Supply of specialized crafts for the needs of the competent authorities, responsible for the emergency response in cases of shipping related accidents and disasters on the Danube River.

The expected results from the project implementation include better synchronization of the activities in cases of shipping related accidents and disasters of the two responsible institutions, capacity improvement of the rescue teams and reduced time for reaction in such situations.