site.btaFifth Group of Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Boards RSV 421 to Get from King George Island to Livingston Island

The fifth group of the 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition boarded the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) on the evening of February 8 to get from King George Island to Livingston Island, where the Bulgarian Antarctic Base is situated.

The group set out from Sofia Airport on February 4 and flew via Rome, Buenos Aires and Santiago to Punta Arenas. From there, they were transported to King George Island on a flight under the Portuguese polar programme PROPOLAR. They then boarded RSV 421 for the passage to Livingston Island.

The group includes Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Leader and Bulgarian Antarctic Institute President Christo Pimpirev, Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev, Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov (Res.) of the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, Veliko Tarnovo University finance and tax law professor Yurii Kuchev, Kaufland retail chain executive Kremena Georgieva, Kiril Kandilarov of Kandilarov Laboratories, Lyubov Kostova of the Beautiful Science Foundation, Kalin Mutafchiev of the Ministry of Education and Science, a camera crew (Yuliana Chalakova, Fejmi Daut, Wolfgang Knopfler, Danail Vuchkov), Elena Georgieva, a longtime representative of French companies in Bulgaria, journalist Zhivko Konstantinov, logistics assistant Alexander Nedyalkov, and Kristian Vladov and Stefan Kyurkchiev of the Museum of Natural History in Plovdiv.

The group brought along a blessed icon of Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, which Prof. Pimpirev received on January 27 from the Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniil, to deliver to the St John of Rila Chapel at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base.