The sea enthusiasts in Bulgaria will remember this year with a 36-day news coverage - the saga of a ship getting stuck and retrieving it: "Vera Su". Why the ship crashed into the rocks, why did it took so long to save it, what happened every day on Kamen Bryag - this is what BNT reporters in Varna told and showed. Much of the experience was behind the scenes, so now BNT adds to the story from the reporter's point of view.
Tanker Ship Stranded off Bulgarian Coast near Park "Yailata"
At around 4 a.m. on September 20, an unexpected guest "landed" on the rocks in the Yaylata Nature Reserve - for unknown reasons, the urea-laden ship "Vera Su" crashed into the shore and began to sink. In its development, the Vera Su saga recalled several findings without an element of surprise - the long chain of command from the capital to the sea leads to delays, communication is proverbially difficult, and ultimately the journalists are to blame.
“In the early morning after the night of the incident, I was standing on the shores of Kamen Bryag, waiting to join the morning tv show. I saw a cargo ship literally crashing into the rocks, without any information about what was happening - despite attempts to contact the institutions. The first information they provided to the media was only in the late afternoon," Petya Ivanova said.
At first, no one expected the bad news to last more than a month. Was there a good one?
The incident with the ship ‘Vera Su’ showed that for the Bulgarian state, the Black Sea is just a beautiful sight, not a place where modern transport can be practiced.” added Deyan Mihailov.
What did the audience not understand during that time? For example, what might it cost you to get to the location of the photos and return?
"Imagine - you are skating with the operator in the dark to the ship on a narrow clay path, loaded with about 20 kilograms of equipment and on the way back it is not only dark and slippery, it is raining, but thunder is falling one after another everywhere. And at this moment you think - next time it can hit me", added Peter Doikinski.
"The Situation is Critical." The Ship Vera SU is Sinking, Announced Bulgarian Minister of Transport
And other times you don't even have time to think.
"Every day our teams walked along the narrow steep path meters from the rocks of Kamen Bryag. And right there, next to the shipwreck, my fear of heights sank," said Daniela Tsekova.
It is also interesting outside the frame - when someone celebrates a birthday on the rocks, with the dog that came from somewhere, in a tent among the thorns.
"When we had to put up the tent at the end of the day, several of our colleagues took on the supposedly easy task, but it took them more than an hour, even though they were watching a video on the internet where a smiling woman folded a tent and put it away in exactly one minute", says Mariana Maleva.
It is most complicated when emotions threaten to prevail over professionalism.
Sailors from "Vera Su" Ship Finally Evacuated
"The most emotional footage is the most difficult to comment on - such as the evacuation of sailors. They had to climb the ropes stretched over the rocks, and the captain, who was the last, first said goodbye to the ship. And you experience these moments as a person, but as a reporter, you just have to be objective," said Silvia Rusenova.
Starting in the dark, the story of "Vera Su" near Kamen Bryag ended in the dark again - minutes after midnight on October 26.
"Vera Su" Ship is Now Officially Sunk
"It was already very cold, our colleagues helped each other as much as we could, the dog Peso was always with us. There were teams on board all night, lights, work. However, we bet on whether we would have to plan our New Year's party on Kamen Bryag. However, minutes after midnight, the ship set off," said Svetlana Gancheva.
In the end, Vera Su reached Varna, although not on her own, to complete her journey on the dry dock in Terem. And at the end of December, the ship "Vera Su" was cut into 40 pieces - at least in the form of a large cake.
“Vera Su” Ship Finally Towed into Clear Waters
Thus, the whole Varna team took a sweet revenge for the 36-day misfortunes. The real ship is still on the dock, the questions remain why it crashed, as well as who, what, and how to change so that there is no recurrence. But this is already a story for the new year.
/BNT