"Ours Is an Exceedingly Universal Profession", Navy Captain Hristov Tells BTA on Board NAVAL RSV 421

"Pretentious as it may sound, a ship is organized like a small onshore settlement," Navy Captain Hristo Hristov told BTA on board the Bulgarian naval research/survey vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii on Wednesday.

Captain Hristov, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, is one of three instructors of his Faculty who sail on a training voyage from Varna, Bulgaria, to Cartagena, Spain, together with 23 cadets of the Academy.

The captain believes that the best way for future engineer officers and electricians to learn seafaring is their early immersion in it.

"As you know, this is our first training voyage, and it is of a relatively short duration of about ten days. This is also our cadets' first sailing. We believe that they should first get used to the on-board routine. To this end, we have assigned them to both night watch and day watch duty," he explained.

In his opinion, a seafarer must above all be a teamworker, be tolerant of other people's views regardless of whether they are outranked by their interlocutor or not, and must like their job.

Various rankings place the Varna Naval Academy among the world's top five naval universities. The credit for this goes to the fine instructors and the fine training facilities.

"Our academy employs top professionals - both military and civilian. The training facilities are undergoing steady renewal," said the Faculty of Engineering Dean.

"The expedition to Antarctica is of paramount importance to both Bulgarian science and our service training establishment," Captain Hristov emphasized. He argued that Bulgaria must adopt initiatives like the voyage of NAVAL RSV 421 as a recurring tradition.

The Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii is on its historic first historic voyage to Livingston Island in the South Shetlands in support of the 31st Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition. The ship is expected to reach its destination in some 40 days.

BTA's Daily News editor Konstantin Karagyozov is the only member of the media who is travelling on board the ship to Livingston Island and back, and will cover the Bulgarian expedition on site throughout the stay in Antarctica.

All media outlets can use the Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log for free.