site.btaAnother Group of 32nd National Antarctic Expedition Leaves Sofia 

Yet another group of the 32nd National Antarctic Expedition took an ITA Airways flight on January 7 from Sofia Airport for Rome en route to Buenos Aires, Rio Gallegos, Punta Arenas, King George Island and Livingston Island. 

The group consists of Assoc. Prof. Boris Tzankov, a consultant on a new water and sewerage line in the area of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, logistician Oleg Vassilev, BTA journalist Emil Granicharov, cook Ivaylo Yankov, mechanic Milcho Dundakov, geologist Ralitsa Sabeva, marine biologist Tihomir Stefanov and physicist Tsvetan Parov. At Punta Arenas, the group will be joined by Mark Irvine from the UK, who will work at the Bulgarian Base on a Silicones Europe project. 

From the Chilean port of Punta Arenas, located north of the Strait of Magellan, the group will fly on January 11 to King George Island, adjacent to Livingston Island where the Bulgarian Antarctic Base is located. The aircraft is chartered by the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI). 

For the last stretch between the two islands, the group will board the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, which is participating in the expedition. 
 
The group is expected to arrive at the Bulgarian Base around January 12-13 and to begin work, said Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, head of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute. “Everything is normal at the base and the Bulgarian flag gas been raised. I am glad that the unloading of the ship is progressing at full speed. It was delayed for a while because of an icy soup near the shore but now everything is back to normal.” Pimpirev recalled that the base was unveiled more than 30 years ago. 

The next group of expedition members will depart on January 26. It will include Prof. Pimpirev and another five people. 
 
BTA’s Emil Granicharov will document the work of the researchers in video diaries.  
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During the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica, which started on November 8, 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is publishing interviews with Antarctic researchers. The Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log again provides coverage of the voyage of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) to Antarctica and back and its stay there, as it did during the 31st expedition between December 27, 2022 and May 2, 2023. Back then, only BTA had a correspondent, Daily News Editor Konstantin Karagyozov, who covered the 127-day expedition with text, video and photos during the entire voyage (including across the Atlantic in both directions) and throughout the stay in Antarctica. In June 2023, BTA published in Bulgarian and in English an issue of its LIK magazine "To Antarctica and Back under the Bulgarian Flag" dedicated to the historic expedition. 
Again, all of BTA's information on the Bulgarian scientific research in Antarctica and the support provided by the Bulgarian naval research vessel, as well as on the other activities at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, will be available to all media outlets in Bulgarian and in English on BTA's website in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's Log section. 
BTA has a National Press Club on board the ship and is planning to open a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.