site.btaRSV 421 Crew Lay Power Cable for New Laboratory at Bulgaria’s Antarctic Base

Crew members of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii research vessel were laying a power cable for a new laboratory unit at the Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island. The vessel's crew also carried out maintenance on the ship's equipment, assemblies and hull, Commander Radko Muevski told BTA.

Work at the Bulgarian Antarctic base continued on the completion of the laboratory unit, while activities on the water pipeline leading to the new building were also underway.

In South Bay, a Zodiac boat was used to conduct bathymetric measurements, surveying the depth and the underwater terrain.

Physicist Tsvetan Parov and geologist Prof. Dr. Yordanka Donkova worked on the Perunika Glacier, while seismologist Gergana Georgieva and physicist Vasil Gurev concluded their measurements and retrieved their equipment from the Balkan Snowfield.

The fifth group of the 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition departed Tuesday from Sofia Airport on a flight to Rome. The group includes Prof. Christo Pimpirev, Sofia University Rector Prof. Georgi Valchev, Assoc. Prof. Yuri Kuchev, Kremena Georgieva, a representative of Kaufland, Kiril Kandilarov from Kandilarov laboratories, Lyubov Kostova, Kalin Mutafchiev from the Ministry of Education and Science, a film crew consisting of Yuliana Chalakova, Feimi Daut, Wolfgang Knopfler, and Danail Vuchkov, Elena Georgieva, journalist Zhivko Konstantinov, and representatives of the Natural History Museum in Plovdiv - Kristiyan Vladov and Stefan Kyurkchiev. In South America, they will be joined by Prof. Boyan Mednikarov from the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy and Alexander Nedyalkov.

The RSV 421 departed from Varna on its third Antarctic expedition on November 7, 2024, and arrived at Livingston Island on December 28. The St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island opened for the new polar season on November 23, 2024.

BTA has a national press club on the vessel and at the Bulgarian Antarctic base. This is the third year in a row that BTA has sent a correspondent to Antarctica. This year's correspondent is Milena Ostrovska, who arrived at the base on January 17. Her reports can be accessed free in English at Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log on BTA's website and can be used for free by all media with attribution to BTA.