site.btaBulgarian Naval Research Ship Makes First Crossing of Strait between Isla Leones and Mainland South America

Тhe Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) crossed the strait in Argentina between the Isla Leones and the mainland of South America en route from Comodoro Rivadavia in Chubut Province in Patagonia to the Argentine port of Mar del Plata, the Naval Academy of Varna (on the Black Sea) said. The ship is on its way back to Bulgaria from the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island. 

The strait at the San Jorge Gulf is legendary for Argentine naval shipping. There is a tradition that when appointed, every ship's commander must pass through the strait known for strong currents and wind.

The Bulgarian ship's crossing was directed by Lieutenant Commander Radko Muevski, the RSV 421 Executive Officer, who was licensed to navigate the ship after theoretical and practical tests in the Black Sea last summer. Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Rector of the Naval Academy, congratulated Muevski on coping with this challenge. 

Lieutenant Commander Lucas Acosta of the Argentine Navy, who has been helping the Bulgarian vessel navigate Argentine waters and the Antarctic Ocean, also congratulated Muevski. The strait is about 700 metres wide and about 1 nautical mile long. Passage through it takes about 15-20 minutes and in this case the current was very strong, although the wind was not that strong. Acosta himself passed this informal test in the Argentine Navy in 2010 and has crossed the strait four times.

Isla Leones is the largest island in a group made up of Buque Island, Sudoeste Islet, and Rojo Islet. It is a rocky island located 1 km off the coast of the Florentino Ameghino Department in the southeast of Chubut Province. The Isla Leones lighthouse, built by the Argentine Navy in 1917, was very important in the past since it emitted flashes every 10 seconds and had a range of 51 kilometres.

There are no people on the Isla Leones. It is home to breeding colonies of imperial cormorant and black-necked cormorant, southern gulls and kelp gulls. There is also an important nesting colony of Magellanic penguins, of which 5,460 breeding pairs were recorded at the end of the 1990s.

The navigator Simon de Alcazaba y Sotomayor took possession of the island and the surrounding territory on behalf of the Spanish crown in 1535. The island received its current name in 1780 and has been under Argentine sovereignty since 1810.