The total amount of investment made by Port of Varna EAD for establishing of the terminal and reorganizing the entire process of container handling at Varna West is 11.3 million Bulgarian Levs.  The terminal includes container freight station, a checkpoint gate with 5 lanes for heavy trucks, new container handling equipment, modern offices, computer system with a new software and a control center for the working process.

After 7 months of construction, the site with the new equipment was opened at official ceremony by the Minister of Transport Mr. P. Mutafchiev.  The event was attended also by the Minister of Defense Mr. N. Tsonev and members of the local government and maritime community, managers of Devnya chemical industry, guests from Germany, employees and corporate clients of Varna Port.

The main purpose of the terminal is to cope with the container traffic at the port which has increased by more than 60%, and also to improve the efficiency and offer better service to the users of port of Varna West.  The new control center of the container terminal is adjacent to the gate for heavy duty trucks.  It is located in a modern building adequately equipped to ensure full service of the clients.  A separate reception room is available for truck drivers where monitors show the order of entering of the trucks.  The brand new computer stations at the control center are provided with updated improved version of the container handling software.  This software was developed and implemented by the port IT specialists as a result of 2-year work.  The computer system enables the port users to keep track of their containers in real time via the port’s web-site.

In order to ensure adequate technical equipment of the terminal, a public procurement procedure was completed for supplying new container handling machines of highest class: 100T mobile crane Gottwald GHMK 6407, two 45T reachstackers Kalmar and two 8T forklift trucks Kalmar to be employed for container stripping/stuffing and for operation in the ship’s hold.

The most impressive jewel among the new port equipment which will operate on the container terminal of Varna West is undoubtedly the German mobile crane Gottwald GHMK 6407.

The crane was named “Perun” and officially commissioned after an orthodox blessing ritual and traditional smashing of a bottle of champagne.  Mrs. Vili Georgieva, Manager of Marketing Department continued the tradition of giving Port’s heavy-duty cranes names of Slavonic and Bulgarian gods.  According to the custom, at one spectacular blow, she smashed the bottle against the German machine under the well deserved applause of the audience.

  The countless bottle fractions made the decoration of balloons burst, and some splinters even hit the public, causing light injuries.  Despite the minor damage, the guests enjoyed the demonstration of new crane’s operation in good spirits, under the powerful sound of music of the German industrial hard rock band Rammstein.  

The crane’s supplier Gottwald was represented by Mr. Heinz Gunter Hippler, who handed the symbolic key of the crane to the Port

Director, Mr. Papazov and thanked for being chosen for a partner.  Mr. Hippler particularly noted the excellent cooperation of Varna port workers and their contribution for assembling of the crane in Varna, expressing his confidence that this crane would be one of the key factors for the future success of the port.

Gottwald GHMK 6407 is a mobile multi-purpose crane capable of handling general, bulk and containerized goods.  It was built in 2008 by Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of harbour cranes.  For Port of Varna, this was the second Gottwald acquisition.  The first crane was delivered by the German company in 2005.

Port of Varna EAD purchased the crane Gottwald GHMK 6407 using its own funds at the cost of 5,800 thousand Bulgarian Levs.  The crane has lifting capacity of 100T and can handle containers with 34 moves per hour.  In addition to its high efficiency and reliability, it offers the advantage of mobility.  WIth a diesel unit of 1217 h.p. and 28 tyres, the crane can travel to any place in the port.  Among the other advantages are the comfortable driver’s cab and camera with video display of the boom and the handled cargo.  the crane is equipped with a special twin-lift spreader.

The port’s management hopes that the new GHMK 6407 will enhance the port’s capability to handle the growing container traffic at the port.  Compared with the previous year, the number of containers handled at Varna Port has increased by 60%.

The new crane will enable a second operational berth at Varna West (No. 11) adequate to serve containerships.  So far, these vessels have been accommodated mostly at one berth (No. 17).

In order to cope with the growing container traffic at both container terminals of Varna East and Varna West, new terminal software is introduced and a mobile computer radio system for container handling.

For this purpose, new hand-held terminals are now in use, which are portable computer stations with radio communication for recording all terminal operations with containers.  So far, the operations were recorded on paper and reported at the end of the shift.  The new system will minimize errors and enable input of data about any container transfer into the terminal information system in real time.

Port users will benefit from this system as well.  They will be able to monitor movements of their containers via the port’s web-site, and they will know the location of any container at any time: whether the container is onboard or it has been unloaded on the terminal with the exact position in the stack, or it has left the port by truck.

The mobile computer radio system was developed jointly by the port’s IT specialists and the leading producer of mobile terminals PSION TEKLOGIX.  It is the first industrial application of a system of this type in Bulgaria. 

Since 1 November, a new management information system for container terminals is in operation at Port of Varna.  The software is based on Microsoft SQL Server and was developed entirely by port’s own specialists.  This ambitious project was implemented by the software specialist Mr. Kiril Hadgiev and the merchandiser of the container terminal of Varna West Mrs. Sofia Angelova responsible for designing of the system.  The development of the application took 8 months.

Introducing of the new container terminal management system has the positive effect of making the work of port’s employees easier and faster and of improving the communication with the port’s clients, while minimizing the errors.  The Customs Manifest which used to be submitted in hard copy, is now received at the port in electronic format.  The clients’ information is web-based, so that any agent or liner operator can check up from its own office the current condition and location of containers and the carried cargo.  The system has a new graphic design and enables additional extensions.  The first module will be implemented later this year.  Then portable computer stations will be introduced on the terminals of Port of Varna, allowing input of information for containers movements in real time.  This will eliminate entirely the hard copies of the documents for terminal operations.

New hardware was purchased to ensure proper functioning of the new container terminal management system.  Each working station of computer operators is equipped with 2 LCD displays to enable simultaneous input of data and monitoring the changes in the container stack.

The system was initially introduced and tested in June 2006 on the container terminal of Varna West.  Five months later, it was implemented at the terminal of Varna East as well, and the task of modernization of container handling software at Port of Varna was accomplished.  This type of product would have cost hundreds of thousands Euros, if acquired on the international software market.