The Bulgarian scientific research ship Saints Cyril and Methodius is to set sail from Varna for Antarctica in the first days of November to take part in the 32^nd national Polar expedition on the icy continent.

• Bulgaria has had a base in Antarctica for 35 years

Forty-five days later the ship will reach the Bulgarian base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island. Before entering the Drake Passage, the ship will stop at Ushuaia, Argentina, the world’s Southernmost city in Tierra del Fuego, where a navigator will come on board to help the ship through the stormy waters. There, the crew will be joined by Bulgarian builders, researchers and logistics staff who will have arrived at Ushuaia by plane, the expedition’s leader Prof. Hristo Pimpirev said for the Bulgarian news agency BTA. The Bulgarian Polar base will open for the new season in mid-December, after which scientists will take turns working there until the end of March.