site.btaOn Leaving Antarctica, Commanding Officer Nikolay Danailov Thanks Ship's Crew, Reports Completed Tasks

Commanding Officer Nikolay Danailov of the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) thanked the crew for their devotion and said: "We are going home!" The ship sailed off from the St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Islands, at 2.30 pm local time on February 9, the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy of Varna said in a press release.
 
"The active phase of securing the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition in the area of the South Shetland Islands by RSV 421 ends today," Danailov said. The vessel sailed 470 nautical miles in 37 days from January 4 and carried out the following tasks:

• Unloaded more than 120 tonnes of building materials, scientific equipment and food supplies on a bare shore for the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, thanks to which the construction of a new scientific laboratory is in its final stage;
• Unloaded around 40 t of materials and food at three Antarctic bases in support of the Spanish polar programme;
• An environmental clean-up operation was completed on the Bulgarian coast, removing more than 30 years' worth of litter, and  20 t of scrap were loaded the ship;
• Supported four research projects: three carried out by Bulgarian scientists and one by a British scientist;
• Supported an expedition by a team of 11 scientists from Spain's Royal Geographical Society;
• Helped the deployment of a field polar camp on the Byers Peninsula;
• Did eight transfers of Bulgarian and foreign scientists and researchers between bases and research areas;
• Found and identified wreckage of an Argentine Navy aircraft;
• Established contacts with Spanish and Argentine bases and with ships of the Colombian and Brazilian navies.

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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.