site.btaBulgarian Naval Research Vessel Returns from Antarctic Expedition

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) is expected to arrive in Varna at 1pm on Thursday, the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy said. The ship is returning following the successful completion of Bulgaria's 34th Antarctic expedition.

The vessel set off from Antarctica on February 17. Its last stop was in Cartagena, Spain, from where the crew set sail for Bulgaria on April 2. In Cartagena, cadets from Bulgaria's Naval Academy and from naval academies in Romania, Poland and Norway boarded for a short-term training voyage to Varna. The cadets are specializing in navigation, ship machinery and mechanisms, and naval communications and radio systems. They received safety briefings on the use of individual and collective life-saving equipment.

RSV 421 departed from the port of Varna for the Antarctic expedition on November 7, 2025.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said they exist thanks to the generous support of RSV 421 and Bulgaria’s St Kliment Ohridski Base, which provide the necessary facilities.

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