site.btaTwo Drills Held on Board Naval Research Ship RSV 421

Two combat drills were conducted on board the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (NAVAL RSV 421) before the ship entered the Argentine port of Commodoro Rivadavia in Chubut Province.

RSV 421 is sailing back home from Livingston Island, where the ship helped the members of the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition in their research and construction at the St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base and assisted fellow polar researchers from Spain, Argentina, Chile and Britain. 

In a man overboard drill, the crew practised rescuing a training mannequin suspended in the ocean. The drill involved manoevring, emergency lowering of a fast rescue boat and resuscitation.

In an on-board fire drill, the crew practised extinguishing a fire on the main deck and in the engine room. The firefighting was carried out by an emergency response party and an emergency response group. In a training simulation, a fire victim was given first aid.

The two drills were watched by the Rector of the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Flotilla Admiral Prof. Boyan Mednikarov.

The Commanding Officer of RSV 421, Commander Nikolay Danailov, told BTA that the ship's operational officer, Lieutenant Commander Hristo Hristov, directed the man overboard drill. "The mannequin was recovered and resuscitated in the space of four minutes. The personnel demonstrated a high level of training and a fairly fast response, if necessary to save life at sea," the captain emphasized.
  
Commander Danailov said that in the second drill held earlier in the day, the ship's emergency response party and emergency response group acted adequately, extinguishing the fires within 10 to 15 minutes." In his words, the success rate and confidence of the personnel's actions provide assurance of the trouble-free trans-Atlantic passage and safe homecoming. 

The Executive Officer of RSV 421, Lieutenant Commander Radko Muevski, gave details about the on-board fire drill. "In one of the training fires, a crew member was 'injured' and was evacuated with the help of the ship's doctor and aidmen," Muevski added. In his opinion, the exercise upgraded the crew's level of training and essentially helped them develop a routine.    

"The training achieved a satisfactory result with minor remarks about the materiel and at time about the personnel's actions," said the Chief Engineer of RSV 421, Lieutenant Commander Stoil Popov. In his words, the training is suitable for the initiation of the cadet trainees and for honing the skills, morale and stamina of the Bulgarian naval vessel's engine room crew. 

Earlier in the day, the naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii cast anchor in the Argentine port of Commodoro Rivadavia, where there is a large community of descendants of Bulgarians who immigrated a century ago. The crew were given a heartfelt welcome by members of that community, including Tsenka Genova, President of the local Bulgarian society, and Ruzhka Nikolova, President of the Argentine-Bulgarian Foundation in Buenos Aires, who also represents the Federation of Bulgarian Societies in Argentina, established in 2022.

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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 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 opened a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.