Abstract

Regardless of the fact that all the prerequisites exist for the development of maritime business and shipbuilding in Bulgaria, a purposeful state maritime policy has not been implemented for a long time. Although there are registered beginnings of our shipbuilding already at the end of the 19th century, and the first serious orders were made during the Second World War, one can speak of a Bulgarian state policy of shipbuilding only in the 2 ½ of the 20th century. Until 1962, the development of the shipbuilding industry was at an average level for the capabilities of our country. In the following decades until the end of the socialist period, shipbuilding emerged as a sub-branch of machine-building of strategic importance for the entire industry, and the scale of its development was comparable to the scale of countries with developed shipbuilding. It is characteristic of the entire period that the majority of shipbuilding production is not created for internal needs, but is dictated by external orders, structural changes are constantly made in the management, there is a lack of continuity, and the construction of capacities for the construction of large-tonnage ships takes a very long time time is a debatable issue. Nevertheless, the development of the shipbuilding industry brings enormous positives to the country. During this period, Bulgaria was recognized as a maritime country; builds a production and technical base that is not small for the scale of our country; puts the work on a scientific basis and gives an opportunity for the appearance of a whole constellation of engineers, according to whose projects dozens and hundreds of ships that sail under the Bulgarian and foreign flags have been built.