site.btaBulgarian Research Vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii to Depart from Antarctica

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) is scheduled to depart Livingston Island, Antarctica, on February 17.

After taking a group of scientists and logistics specialists on board, the ship will set course for the port of Varna. En route, it will call at Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, where it is to be welcomed by the local Bulgarian community.

Logistical activities are continuing at Bulgaria’s Antarctic base St. Kliment Ohridski, where additional scientific projects are expected to be carried out in March, including joint initiatives with Portuguese researchers.

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.