site.btaRSV 421 to Set Sail on Fourth Voyage to Antarctica on November 7

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) will set off on its fourth voyage to Antarctica on November 7, the ship's commander, Captain Radko Muevski, who will also lead this mission, told BTA on Tuesday. According to the plan, the 34th Bulgarian polar expedition should be completed by April 14, when the ship will return to Varna.

One of its main tasks is to complete the furnishing of the new laboratory module, which was built over the past three years, the commander said, specifying that mainly furniture and scientific equipment will be transported to the Bulgarian Antarctic Base so that the laboratory can now be operated at full capacity.

RSV 421 will support the activities of scientists in both the Livingston Island area and the South Shetland Islands. As before, there will be joint activities with the Spanish Atlantic Programme and teams from other countries. The ship is planned to return to the Antarctic Peninsula and a nearby Argentine base, Muevski added. The crew will remain at around 34 people, but there will also be new additions, with long-term trainees from the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna returning on board. 

When the RSV 421 is not on an Antarctic expedition and is in Varna, the crew maintains it and prepares for the next voyage, the commander added. During the summer, training exercises were conducted with cadets from the Naval Academy, joint projects with monitoring institutions in the Black Sea, as well as scientific research activities with the Institute of Oceanology with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, during which samples were taken at various locations.