Navigation (Maritime Piloting) – Those who successfully complete the four-year full-time program in Navigation will be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree. With this qualification, they can work as chief officers and officers of all types of civilian ships as well as occupy the following maritime industry ashore positions: ship manager, ship agent, broker, etc. The program is available to students from all over the world, including India and Pakistan.
The academic program includes the following general educational and general engineering disciplines: Calculus, Physics, Informatics, Electronics, Technical Mechanics, Electrical Engineering, Maritime English, etc.
The major-specific disciplines are Maritime Affairs; Navigation; Ship Maneuvering; Technical Aids to Navigation; Astronavigation, Ship Safety and Safety of Navigation; Ship Theory, Mechanisms, and Shipworthiness; Theory of Maneuvering; Geodesy, Cartography, and Sailing Directions; Meteorology and Oceanography; Ship Cargo Loading and Unloading, etc.
The curriculum for this major also includes one-time additional training in the Addendum to Article 4, Paragraph 2 and 3 from the Transitional and Final Provisions to the Regulation for Amendment of Regulation 6 from 2012 for the Competence of the Maritime Specialists in the Republic of Bulgaria. In this way, those who have successfully completed the program will receive, in addition to a diploma in higher education and a Bachelor of Science Degree, all the required certificates for completing their student’s internship and sitting an exam conducted by the Executive Agency of Maritime Administration for receiving a certificate for an Officer in Charge of the Navigational Watch (OICNW) .
The academic facilities consist of modern complexes: planetarium, complex navigational simulators “NT-PRO-500,” Technical Aids to Navigation labs, training devices ECDIS for working with electronic navigational maps, a study room for Automatic Aid to Navigation (ATON), Maritime Affairs lab and Ship Navigation lab, Rigging and Ship Exploitation study rooms, GMDSS, VTMS, etc. They ensure the modern scientific application of all disciplines from the majors, in accordance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization and Executive Agency Maritime Administration.
The program includes annual practical education conducted as a training camp and onboard ships belonging to maritime companies partnering with the Naval Academy. The sailing is conducted mainly in the Black and Mediterranean Seas, as well as in the Atlantic Ocean.
The program is completed by sitting a state exam in the major, as well as in English.
Those who complete their graduate studies are awarded a Master of Science degree and have the right to sit an exam for receiving a Captain’s license for all types of merchant ships.