A ceremony was held today at the Naval Base in the city of Zeebrugge, Kingdom of Belgium, to solemnly raise the Bulgarian naval flag on a newly acquired mine countermeasure ship. The previous Belgian warship “Bellis“ with the ship number M916 was assigned the honorary name “Briz“.
The transfer of the first of the four Belgian ships is in implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Bulgaria, Belgium and the Netherlands on the acquisition of seven mine countermeasure ships, signed by the Ministers of Defense on July 8, 2026. The new acquisition strengthens the capabilities of the Navy to detect and neutralize mine threats, which is of key importance for stability in the Black Sea region.
The ceremony in Zeebrugge was attended by the Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, the Commander of the Belgian Navy, Rear Admiral Tanguy Botman, the Bulgarian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Natalia Uzunova, the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to NATO Nikolay Milkov, admirals, generals and officers from the Belgian Defense Headquarters and the Bulgarian Naval Forces Command.
The document for the handover of the ship from the Royal Belgian Navy and its acceptance by the Bulgarian Navy was signed by the Belgian National Director of Armaments, Lieutenant General Bernard Faleg and Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov.
After the necessary preparation, the ship will be re-based at the Burgas Naval Base. The senior national representative on board the ship during the voyage will be Captain 1st Rank Yordan Yordanov, commander of the mine countermeasures division of the Flotilla of Combat and Auxiliary Ships, in whose ship composition “Briz“ will be included.
The seven “Triparti“ class mine hunters, which will be acquired by Bulgaria in the coming years, will ensure a significant increase in the Bulgarian contribution to NATO's overall defense potential on the Alliance's eastern flank.