site.btaTenth Turkish Antarctic Expedition Visits Bulgarian Research Vessel and Antarctic Base on Livingston Island

The 10th Turkish Antarctic Expedition paid an official visit to the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) and to the Bulgarian Antarctic Base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island on Sunday.

The Bulgarian team presented the vessel’s facilities to the members of the Turkish expedition, after which the visitors had the opportunity to tour the Bulgarian base. Participants from both the Turkish and Bulgarian teams visited a glacier near the base and conducted field research.

The Turkish expedition is continuing its journey to Horseshoe Island, where geological studies are planned. This year’s team also includes a Bulgarian geologist, Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Georgiev.

Scientists from the St Kliment Ohridski base also visited the Spanish Antarctic base Juan Carlos I, which is located near the Bulgarian facility.

Earlier in the day, the Bulgarian naval research vessel anchored near the St. Kliment Ohridski Antarctic Base. The fourth and penultimate group was then transferred to the base, after boarding the ship off King George Island the previous day. The newly arrived scientists and journalists were welcomed with traditional bread and honey by the base commander, Kamen Nedkov, and the logistics team.

The group, led by the head of the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions, Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, includes Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Capt. Prof. Miroslav Tsvetkov, Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Georgiev of the Geological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Chief Assistant Snezhana Rusinova-Videva of the BAS Institute of Microbiology, Chief Assistant Gergana Georgieva from the Faculty of Physics at St Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, and Prof. Emil Stanev from Germany, as well as Greek researchers Dionysia Rigatou from the University of Athens and Eleni Kytinou from the Institute of Oceanography at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research.

The group also includes BTA special correspondent Simona-Alex Mihaleva, journalist Jivko Konstantinov, journalist Maria Cherneva, camera operator Anna Andreeva, biotechnician Kiril Kandilarov, and writer Vasil Popov. The group departed from Sofia on January 24.

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.