site.btaBulgarian Research Vessel Leaves Cartagena on Course for Argentina

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv, Kiril I Metodii (RSV 421) on Wednesday left the Spanish port of Cartagena on course for Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Naval Academy said. The Argentinian port is the vessel’s second stop on its way to its final destination Livingston Island in the Antarctic. 

Twenty-eight cadets of the Naval Academy underwent a short training course aboard the vessel and were transported from Spain back to Bulgaria on board a Spartan transport aircraft. The cadets participated in the vessel maintenance and management and fulfilled concrete instructions of the ship’s commanding officer Nikolay Danailov. 

RSV 421’s mission during its second polar expedition is to assist in the implementation of ten research projects outside Bulgaria’s Antarctic base St Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island. In addition, the vessel is carrying nearly 70 tonnes of supplies for the construction of a new laboratory on the territory of the base. 

RSV 421 is expected to reach the Antarctic shortly before Christmas. 

During the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica, which started on November 8, 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is publishing interviews with Antarctic researchers. The Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log again provides coverage of the voyage of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii to Antarctica and back and its stay there, as it did during the 31st expedition between December 27, 2022 and May 2, 2023. Back then, only BTA had a correspondent, Daily News Editor Konstantin Karagyozov, who covered the 127-day expedition with text, video and photos during the entire voyage (including across the Atlantic in both directions) and throughout the stay in Antarctica. In June 2023, BTA published in Bulgarian and in English an issue of its LIK magazine "To Antarctica and Back under the Bulgarian Flag" dedicated to the historic expedition.

Again, all of BTA's information on the Bulgarian scientific research in Antarctica and the support provided by the Bulgarian naval research vessel, as well as on the other activities at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, will be available to all media outlets in Bulgarian and in English on BTA's website in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's Log section.

BTA has a National Press Club on board the ship and is planning to open a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.