site.btaNaval Academy in Varna Celebrates Antarctica Day with Screenings of Films about Bulgaria's Antarctic Expeditions

The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA) in Varna celebrated Antarctica Day on Sunday with screenings of documentaries about Bulgaria's Antarctic expeditions. The event was hosted by the Naval Academy Planetarium. Antarctica Day was opened by Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Coordinator of the Antarctic Programme at NVNA. The head of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (BAI), Prof Christo Pimpirev, spoke in a video address. 

Mednikarov pointed out that the first group of the current Bulgarian Antarctic expedition is already on Livingston Island. According to him, around Christmas the main group of polar explorers will board the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421). The ship is expected to reach Livingston Island on the eve of 2025.

Mednikarov added that he and Pimpirev will leave for the Bulgarian base on the Ice Continent in early February. According to the plan, the group will also include the Naval Academy Rector, Flotilla Admiral Kalin Kalinov, as well as the Rector of Sofia University prof. Georgi Valchev.   

For the past three years, the NVNA has specialized in the problems of so-called polar navigation, Mednikarov said. He recalled that a special educational course was created to give participants unique knowledge related to mastering the Ice Continent. 

In parallel with the Antarctic Day, a Candidate Student Exchange was held at the NVNA, where specialties and opportunities for enrolment at the university were presented.

There was also an exhibition with footage from the voyages of the RSV 421.