The 35th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition will include Bulgaria’s first Antarctic archaeology project, alongside research into volcanic activity and seismic processes in the South Shetland Islands, scientists said on Saturday at the opening of a training camp for expedition participants.
Dragomir Mateev, Deputy Director of Sofia University’s National Center for Polar Studies and logistics coordinator of the National Polar Research Programme said that the 35th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition will include numerous scientific projects both at the Bulgarian Antarctic base St. Kliment Ohridski and aboard the Bulgarian research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421), including a number of international projects. “This is our 35th anniversary expedition and the fifth expedition of our ship to Antarctica. According to preliminary information, it will be even larger and involve more people than the previous one, thanks to the substantial expansion of our infrastructure in recent years, a new laboratory and additional equipment aboard the ship,” Mateev said.
St. Kliment Ohridski Base Commander Kamen Nedkov presented the organization of the expedition’s logistical and scientific activities. A new feature this season will be the introduction of project coordinators, he said. Physicist Oleg Vasilev will coordinate scientific projects conducted at the Antarctic base, while Prof. Borislav Aleksandrov will coordinate those aboard the Bulgarian research vessel. Other improvements at the base include internet access in all buildings, new logistical machinery and laboratory equipment. Renovation of the kitchen in the main building and an expansion of the working space in the Casa Espana building are also planned. Nedkov said solar panels would be installed as part of efforts to gradually eliminate dependence on diesel generators and eventually switch entirely to solar-generated electricity. “This is something major and important for us, and we have been working on it for the past two or three years. We hope to complete it within the next two years,” he said. A shelter is also planned for Smith Island this year, primarily for scientists working with wildlife who need protection from the weather.
RSV 421 Commander Captain 2nd Rank Radko Muevski presented the vessel’s planned route. The ship is currently scheduled to leave Varna on November 4, and return on April 14, 2027. It will again transport equipment to the Bulgarian base and host scientific projects aboard. During the expedition, the vessel is also expected to take part in COP31 in Antalya and provide training for cadets from the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy on the voyage to Cartagena, Spain. On the return journey, the crew is expected to join the Bulgarian community in Buenos Aires in marking Bulgaria’s national holiday on March 3. Muevski said the underwater archaeology project conducted with the help of RSV 421 would continue this year, along with research into marine currents at several locations and field sampling from Maher Peninsula and Bernard Point.
Dr Dragomir Garbov, who joined the training camp online, presented the first Antarctic archaeology project within the Bulgarian expeditions. He said maritime archaeology in Antarctica remains a young field and that no shipwreck there has yet been studied, although data point to four British and two American vessels wrecked in shallow waters. Garbov said the cold sea could help preserve archaeological remains, citing the well-preserved wreck of the Endurance. The project will seek to locate and document maritime heritage sites and develop a methodology for future research. Planned work includes sonar, thermal imaging and multibeam echo-sounder surveys, limited searches on land and, where suitable targets are found, underwater inspections using a remotely operated vehicle. The team also plans to create a catalogue and database of archaeological sites.
Prof. Dimitar Balabanski presented an ongoing project studying ash deposits on glaciers and rocks linked to volcanic activity on Deception Island. The project, launched two expeditions ago, involves carbon dating and is being conducted jointly with Romanian scientists. It also examines the microscopic composition of volcanic ash from the active volcano on Deception Island.
Dr Gergana Georgieva presented an ongoing project studying seismic activity in the South Shetland Islands. This season, the team plans maintenance work on a seismic station installed in Antarctica in 2020. Georgieva said ten earthquakes were recorded by several stations in January 2025 and stressed the need for more seismic stations and further analysis of the data. During the expedition, she plans to install a new seismic station on Snow Island. A further station could be placed on the Antarctic continent next year as part of an international cooperation project. Simultaneous recordings from a larger number of stations would allow researchers to determine the direction from which seismic waves originate, she said. “This would also allow us to determine the direction of an icequake, which would be very interesting,” Georgieva added.
International participants in 2026 expedition include scientists from Germany, Romania, Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Scientists from the UAE built a new research laboratory at the Bulgarian base in 2025.
35th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition to Expand Scientific Work at Base and Aboard RSV 421 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-17 10:01:00
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