site.bta34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Hit by Heaviest Storm Since Its Start

The 34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition has been hit by the heaviest storm since its start in mid-November.

Wind gusts are exceeding 150 km/h. The buildings at Bulgaria's St Kliment Ohridski Antarctic base are vibrating, and it is dangerous to move between them outdoors.

The research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) has taken shelter from the waves and wind in the bay in front of the Spanish Antarctic base Juan Carlos I, and at present it is impossible to launch boats to the shore. Researchers and logistics personnel from the expedition were scheduled to disembark on Monday, but their transfer has been postponed until suitable weather conditions are available.

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. 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. These two press clubs 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). 

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.