On 11 October 2016, a delegation led by Vice Admiral Georgios Giakumakis – Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, paid a visit to Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy. They were accompanied by Rear Admiral Mitko Petev – Commander of the Navy of the Republic of Bulgaria, and his Deputy – Commodore Nikola Karanov .

The visitors were greeted by Commodore Prof. DSc Boyan Mednikarov – Rector of the Naval Academy, and Captain Ass. Prof. Dr Nikolay Velikov – Dean of the Faculty of Navigation. A brief presentation was delivered in the Boardroom about the mission and the traditions of the Academy. The visitors were briefed about the organisational structure of the Academy, the accreditations and the certificates that the Academy has to renew on a yearly basis. An emphasis was placed on the increased international recognition of the Academy over the last ten years when contacts were established with a number of maritime universities all over the worlds, as well as with new companies and major shipowners, whose ships are manned by master mariners and chief engineers – alumni of the naval Academy. In the course of the discussions, Commodore Mednikarov pointed out that the increased international authority of the Naval Academy was evidenced by the fact that it was Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy that was chosen by the International Association of Maritime Universities to host its   Assembly in 2017.

Vice Admiral Georgios Giakumakis and his colleagues from the Hellenic Navy were taken on a tour to see the training facilities of the NavalAcademy with its newest acquisitions, simulation complexes, training aids and laboratories. The visitors were accompanied by the management of the Academy.