site.btaBulgarian Research Vessel Returns to Antarctic Base on Livingston Island

The Bulgarian research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) will return on Sunday evening to the Bulgarian Antarctic base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island.

On Saturday, the vessel reached the shores of the Antarctic mainland for the first time during its four Antarctic missions so far. The ship dropped anchor in Hope Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula, where an official delegation, including scientists, visited Esperanza Base, Argentina’s Antarctic research station.

Later on Saturday, RSV 421 entered the Antarctic Sound, where German scientists Emil Stanev and Michel Albinos began their study of Antarctic underwater currents. Greek scientists Dionysia Rigatou and Eleni Kytinou collected water samples from multiple points.

Meanwhile, scientific research in seismology, microbiology, and bathymetry continues at the St. Kliment Ohridski base. Construction and logistics projects are also ongoing.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7, 2025. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata on December 13.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. These are added to the news agency’s other 41 national press clubs (33 in Bulgaria, seven abroad in neighbouring countries and in nations with large Bulgarian communities, and one mobile National Book Press Club). BTA's Director General Kiril Valchev announced ahead of the fourth voyage to Antarctica on November 7, 2025 that the national news agency would send a special correspondent in January-February 2026.

He said the press clubs 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 the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media, with attribution to BTA. Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the news agency appears among the top results on Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent”.