site.btaDay 38: CPO Yavor Stoynev, Senior Specialist on Navigation and Communication Systems on RSV 421 Says He Was Intrigued by Mission and Promise of Adventure

Chief Petty Officer Yavor Stoynev, senior specialist on navigation and communication systems on RSV 421, was instantly intrigued on hearing of the ship's mission. He had a sense that there was adventure and dynamic in store, that he would be able to see the ocean and go to Antarctica.

"In 2020, I heard from a colleague that a vessel which will be used by the Bulgarian expeditions to Antarctica was about to be bought and that the Naval Academy would be involved in the project. I was instantly intrigued, sensing that there would be adventure and dynamic, that I would be able to see the ocean and go to Antarctica. I told my wife about it. I heard that I had to contact Commander Danailov. I had already sailed under his command as boatswain on the [Bulgarian Navy's rescue ship] Proteo. We had worked together for quite a long time and I called him to say he could rely on me if needed. A few months later he called me and said they were looking to man the deck force and the technical crew. I chose to be senior specialist on navigation and communication systems," CPO Stoynev said.

He is responsible for the proper operation of the ship's radar, ECDIS and GPS systems. The information provided by them helps the navigators in orientation, plotting coordinate points and determining the ship's course.

"Sometimes an instrument stops working or gives wrong information. That is why they are duplicated, and our ship has three such GPS instruments that show its position. We standardize their data - usually the difference in readings is minimal, it comes from the different locations of the antennas, which are 5 metres apart on the ship," CPO Stoynev said.

Before embarking on the challenge of RSV 421's voyage to Antarctica, CPO Stoynev served as boatswain on the Bulgarian Navy's only rescue ship, the Proteo. Donated by Italy to Bulgaria, the Proteo is equipped for deep-sea underwater activities. Its equipment allows it to be positioned at a given point on four anchors and to retrieve injured people from objects submerged at a depth of up to 120 metres. It has a hyperbaric chamber, a gas-holding tank servicing it and an enclosed diving bell. Using the bell, which resembles a capsule that descends to a certain depth, a diver can be sent to survey the area or to rescue a person in distress.

"For instance, the bell can stand on a submarine, create a dry connection with it and collect the injured people. If the distressed people have been exposed to higher pressure for some time, the same pressure is created inside the bell before it is brought to the surface. Once this is done, it docks with the hyperbaric chamber where the same pressure has been created, and the injured persons are moved into it. Then a doctor, guided by a special table, helps the victims decompress slowly," Stoynev said.

Having embarked on the Antarctic mission, he believes that Bulgaria should seek to further explore the Ice Continent and its deposits. "Years from now, the moratorium on mining in Antarctica will be lifted and the valuable resources there will be exploited. For example, at a workshop in [the Bulgarian seaside town] Aheloy, our Antarctic researchers presented a study on a 'green' battery which is activated by salt water and can work for a long time. They had the idea of putting such a battery in the Antarctic base in the winter, where it can power a camera and track the winter period, hoping that it will last longer and testing what it is capable of in subzero temperatures. Projects like this convince me that our research in Antarctica must continue," CPO Stoynev said.

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