Danube River Authority Enhances Navigation Safety with New AIS-Equipped Floating Aids

The Executive Agency for Exploration and Maintenance of the Danube River — EAEMDR — has received 150 new floating navigation aids equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology. The delivery was carried out through a joint public procurement procedure with the Lower Danube River Administration – Galați within the framework of the DISMAR project. The transportation was financed under the Interreg VI‑A Romania – Bulgaria Programme.

Phased installation of the new floating aids along the common Bulgarian–Romanian stretch of the Danube is scheduled to begin this year. The buoys comply with modern European standards for inland navigation safety and provide improved visibility compared to traditional wreck markers. They are equipped with solar panels and AIS communication modules, enabling real-time monitoring via the already established information system.

The DISMAR project is a joint initiative of the river administrations of Bulgaria and Romania aimed at enhancing navigation safety and strengthening information infrastructure through the development of an integrated marking system in the cross-border region. More than 1,000 new coastal navigation signs have already been delivered under the project, and the supply of an autonomous sailing vessel for the maintenance of shore marks is also envisaged.

Comment by the Institute of Danube Research 
The introduction of AIS-equipped floating aids represents a structural shift from purely visual navigation to an integrated digital safety management system on the Danube. For ports and vessel operators, this contributes to reduced navigational risks, higher predictability of traffic flows, and improved interoperability with European inland waterway information services. Given the growing strategic importance of the Danube as a logistics corridor in the Black Sea region, such investments create a sustainable foundation for safe and resilient inland navigation.