site.btaUPDATED LIK Magazine Issue on Voyage to Antarctica Presented on Board Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii Naval Research Ship

The fact that Bulgaria has a research ship is an example that Bulgarians can reach an agreement around a big clear goal, said BTA Director General Kiril Valchev on Thursday at a presentation of the new issue of LIK magazine at the National Press Club of the news agency on board the Bulgarian navy research vessel (RSV 421) Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, docked at the Varna Sea Station.

We called the issue "To Antarctica and back under the Bulgarian flag", making a connection with Aleko Konstantinov's famous journey "To Chicago and Back", said Valchev and stressed that its important goal is to make Bulgarian science more visible. With the presence of BTA's permanent correspondent Konstantin Karagyozov on the ship during the entire voyage to Livingston Island and back for more than four months, we received a daily logbook of everything important that happened, about the research and the problems during the voyage. It is all in this journal because it deserves to have a memory of this memorable voyage, Valchev pointed out.

At the beginning of LIK's Antarctic issue, Kiril Valchev tells the story of RSV 421, in which state officials from all parts of the political spectrum back the idea for acquisition of such a vessel. This, according to Valchev, is an example that Bulgarians can reach agreement when there is a clear goal. "We have a reason to be proud because we reached Antarctica with our own ship," Valchev said. "Captain Nikolai Danailov shares this opinion and expresses his joy at the opportunity to regain our self-confidence as a seafaring nation, as we were fifteen years ago," he said. 

The BTA Director General said that he and the team of Prof. Christo Pimpirev, the head of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, were discussing how to formulate the message of the mission and translate science into understandable language, "because Bulgarians love practical things", said Valchev. He believes that RSV 421 has already proven its practical usefulness in the Black Sea with the research it is doing on water quality. In addition, the ship is also being used for training cadets from the Varna Naval Academy. 

"It turns out that the BTA is the only news agency in the world with offices on a ship and in Antarctica, making Bulgaria a first in news coverage on the continent," Valchev said.

LIK carries an abridged version of the RSV 421 log by BTA special correspondent Konstantin Karagyozov. During the LIK presentation in Varna, he described his role for liaising between Antarctic explorers and the people back home and said it was an honour for him, and also a responsibility. "Such a voyage happened for the first time in Bulgarian naval and research history and I hope that I have managed to give people a glimpse at the courage the researchers and the crew showed in the face of the a myriad of perils during the voyage and what they have done to put Bulgaria on the world scientific map," said Karagyozov. He believes that many countries rely on Bulgaria in the Antarctic cooperation, in which everybody helps everybody else, "and we should think how we can also do that in our daily lives, as well as in politics and international communication".

During the presentation of LIK, managing editor Yanitsa Hristova shared more details about the content of the special issue, which includes interviews with Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Prof. Christo Pimpirev, Captain Nikolai Danailov, as well as details about the mission and life in the extreme conditions of Antarctica. The issue ends with an article by Lyubomir Ivanov on place names in Antarctica.

Among the guests at the presentation were Environment and Water Minister Julian Popov, Bulgarian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, Varna Naval Academy Chief Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Varna's newly appointed Regional Governor Adriana Andreeva and her predecessor Mario Smarkov, Burgas Regional Governor Maria Neykova, Varna Technical University Rector Prof. Dragomir Plamenov, Dragomir Mateev of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and musician Theodosii Spassov.