Day 12: Loading Activity Delaying Departure of NAVAL RSV 421 from Cartagena

The departure of Bulgaria's naval research/survey ship Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (NAVAL RSV 421) from the Spanish port of Cartagena is being delayed due to ongoing loading activity.  The ship is carrying building materials, food supplies and other consumables for the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island. In addition, as part of long-standing cooperation between the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and the Spanish one, RSV 421 is loading supplies for the Juan Carlos I Spanish Antarctic Station.

The ship's Commanding Officer Nikolay Danailov told BTA that the loading continues of the material part for the Spanish base adjacent to Bulgaria's Sv. Kliment Ohridski Antarctic Base, as well as for the base on Deception Island led by Spain and Argentina. Almost all of the supplies have been loaded but it remains to stabilize the cargo as required.

The cargo includes cement, accumulators, food supplies and materials needed for lab research, including metal beams and buildings in disassembled form.

In the course of one day, the crew managed to load almost everything – some 40 tonnes of materials – that will then be transported, Danailov also said. The cargo’s stabilization, which has to be done during the night, means at least another 12 hours at the port of Cartagena for RSV 421, he added. He expects the task to be completed by morning, thus allowing the ship to be taken off the pier and head for Gibraltar.