SS Boris was the first Bulgarian merchant ship.Shields Daily Gazette, Wednesday, 04/07/1894 She was , with a beam of and a draught of . The power of the engine was 165 n.h.p., providing a speed of .
The ship was built by Wigham Richardson, Wallsend, in the United Kingdom, and launched on 21 May 1894. Boris arrived in Bulgaria on 2 July 1894 at 9.30 am in the Bay of Varna. In the first years the ship carried out voyages between the Bulgarian ports. On 21 September 1915 the ships Cyril, Boris, Bulgaria, Varna, and Tsar Ferdinand were moved to Lake Varna and anchored against the Cotton Factory.Sergei R. Grinevetsky, Igor S. Zonn, Sergei S. Zhiltsov, Aleksey N. Kosarev, Andrey G. Kostianoy The Black Sea Encyclopedia In 1920, the ship was struck by the Russian steamer Kronstadt near Sevastopol, during the evacuation of the remnants of the White Army of general Vrangel in the Crimea. The Russian side found Sakharov, the captain of Kronstadt, guilty. As a result, Russia offered to replace the Boris with the Yalta.
References
State archive of Varna Fund 616 в."Морски вестник" Navibulgar, БЪЛГАРСКОТО МОРСКО ТЪРГОВСКО КОРАБОПЛАВАНЕ – фарватер през три столетия, издание на Параходство Български морски флот АД