site.btaBulgarian Antarctic Research Vessel to Visit Deception Island

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) is scheduled to visit Deception Island on Wednesday as part of a several-day survey mission around Livingston Island.

While on Deception Island, physicist Oleg Vasilev plans to photograph a penguin colony. Some of the scientists on board are expected to collect field samples from Whalers Bay.

Later in the day, the vessel is expected to relocate near Spain's Juan Carlos I Antarctic Base to load a tracked vehicle.

At Bulgaria’s St Kliment Ohridski Antarctic Base, daily repair and construction activities are set to continue, including work on the new large laboratory and on a meteorological laboratory being built jointly with researchers from the United Arab Emirates.

Seismologist Gergana Georgieva is planning fieldwork on glaciers.

Weather permitting, a boat expedition for underwater research is also planned.

RSV 421 departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in the city of Mar del Plata on December 13, 2025. BTA has had a national press club on board since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024.

The news pieces of the BTA special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media with reference to BTA.