site.btaRSV 421 Enters Drake Passage

The research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril I Metodii (RSV 421) entered the Drake Passage on Tuesday - one of the most dangerous areas for navigation.

Earlier today, RSV 421 departed from the bay in front of the Bulgarian Antarctic base and set course for Bulgaria.

This morning, the Bulgarian Antarctic researchers observed a partial solar eclipse from the base.

Electrical engineer Dr. Petar Sapundjiev explained in an interview with BTA how essential it is for scientific projects to receive data from Antarctica in real time throughout the entire year.

The Bulgarian research vessel Sv. Sv Kiril I Metodii set sail for Antarctica on November 7 from Varna. The ship arrived at the naval base of the Argentine city of Mar del Plata on December 13, 2025, after a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

BTA has maintained a national press club on board RSV 421 since 2022. In February 2024, Bulgaria’s national news agency also opened one at the Bulgarian Antarctic base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev announced before the vessel’s fourth voyage to Antarctica on November 7 last year that the national news agency would send its own special correspondent in January–February 2026.

The press clubs at the Bulgarian research vessel and the Bulgarian Antarcic base are added to BTA’s other 41 national press clubs (33 in Bulgaria, seven abroad in neighboring countries and in countries with large Bulgarian communities, and one mobile National Book Press Club).

The reports of BTA’s special correspondents on RSV 421 and in Antarctica are freely accessible in the special section “BTA’s Ship Log” in Bulgarian and English (# Bulgaria – Antarctica / Bulgaria – Antarctica) and may be freely used by all media outlets, crediting BTA.

Kiril Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the agency appears among the top results in Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent.”