site.btaResearch Vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii Hosts Open Day

The Bulgarian research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) hosted an open day on Tuesday. The event marked five years since the vessel joined the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy and completed four Antarctic expeditions.

A queue formed and remained throughout the three-hour visiting period. Visitors were able to tour the vessel and learn about its role in advancing Bulgarian polar science.

“For the third year in a row, the ship has called at Nessebar Old Town. It is a wonderful feeling because locals value their own and want to see how those who grew up here by the sea have developed,” Captain Nikolay Danailov told BTA.

Danailov said he discovered his love of the sea in Nessebar, where he grew up. The vessel is in its fifth year with the Naval Academy and, as an “ambassador for the polar cause”, visits towns along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast to bring Antarctic work closer to more people, he added.

Flotilla Admiral (Ret.) Boyan Mednikarov described the creation, maintenance and development of the research vessel as a national cause. He said the strong public interest reflected public support for the Bulgarian polar programme.

“During our training and summer voyages, we traditionally look for opportunities to show this national asset to residents and visitors in towns along our Black Sea coast,” Mednikarov said. He added that the vessel had also been presented abroad, including in Argentina, helping promote Bulgarian polar science.

Mednikarov said visitors’ interest often focused on life and work on the icy continent. “Our guests usually experience a mild shock. The conversations always turn to what Antarctica is like, how cold it is and what we felt when we first saw the continent,” Mednikarov said. Acquiring the vessel five years ago gave Bulgaria a unique platform that significantly expanded the capabilities of Bulgarian polar science, he added.

In addition to serving as a scientific platform, the vessel has gradually established itself as a tool of international cooperation. Danailov said RSV 421 had served as an instrument of military diplomacy from its first year in service. It was the first Bulgarian naval vessel to enter the Atlantic Ocean and cross the Equator. During voyages to Argentina, Chile and Brazil, it established contacts with representatives of those countries’ navies.

Preparations for the next Antarctic expedition are already under way. “Preparations for the next expedition have entered a dynamic phase. We are currently sailing in the Black Sea to train the crew and practise the required procedures,” Danailov said.

Commander Radko Muevski, the vessel’s commanding officer, added that new scientific tasks were being planned alongside crew training and technical maintenance. These include expanding a joint project with Germany’s Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment in Oldenburg to study sea currents in Bransfield Strait, as well as new research into the characteristics of the waters around Antarctica.

Another new area is a pilot project examining maritime archaeology in Antarctica and maritime heritage around the South Shetland Islands through the Bulgarian Underwater Heritage Institute.

Danailov said the development of the Antarctic programme required a long-term vision. Establishing this capability five years ago put Bulgaria on the world map, and future planning should include a new research vessel capable of operating in both Antarctica and the Arctic, he added.

In 2021, the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy acquired RSV 421 jointly with the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. The vessel is intended to transport Bulgarian polar missions to Antarctica, support research under the National Polar Research Programme and serve in the Naval Academy’s fleet.

On December 27, 2022, RSV 421 set sail on its maiden voyage to Antarctica as part of the 31st Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition. BTA opened a National Press Club aboard the vessel in 2022 and another at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island in February 2024.