35th Antarctic expedition receives flag – hunt for traces of the first seafarers
President Iotova handed the flag to Prof. Hristo Pimpirev. Eighteen research projects are planned; the ship sails from Varna on 4 November.
Archive image · Photo: SnowSwan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
President Iliana Iotova on Tuesday handed the national flag to Bulgaria's 35th Antarctic expedition. At the ceremony in the presidency's Coat of Arms Hall, expedition leader Prof. Hristo Pimpirev received the flag. 'The national flag will proudly fly on Livingston at our base,' Iotova said. Bulgaria's station on Livingston Island is named after St Kliment Ohridski. She said the expedition represented the courage, strength and professionalism of Bulgarian scientists.
Eighteen research projects led by Bulgarian teams are planned, with scientists from 11 countries taking part, including Germany, Brazil, China, the United States and Romania. One aim is to study shipwrecks off Antarctica. Pimpirev said the team would not be looking for gold but for traces of the first seafarers to reach the continent. Ocean currents around the island and the Antarctic Peninsula will also be studied because of their link to sea-level rise. For the first time, a senior cleric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bishop Kliment, will visit the continent. The research vessel 'Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodiy' will leave Varna's maritime station on 4 November for its fifth voyage to Livingston.