The last waste, accumulated for more than 30 years by the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions at the “St. Kliment Ohridski” base on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica, was prepared for loading on the Bulgarian military scientific research ship “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” and taken away for disposal in Bulgaria, reported the Maritime School.
The commander of the ship – Captain II rank Nikolay Danailov, indicated that within two days at the end of January, about 20 tons of scrap metal were loaded. “For the second year in a row, and I hope for the last, we are taking such a massive amount of scrap metal from the continent. I am glad that the crew got involved actively,” added Captain Danailov.
“Until two years ago, before we acquired our research vessel St. St. Cyril and Methodius’, which is making its second voyage to the Antarctic, we were littered with rubbish. And I was embarrassed by inspectors when they come, because they often come to inspect from the Antarctic Treaty Advisory Council, seeing the barrels in which we stored the waste. We had collected 300 barrels that were rusting and threatening to break through and contaminate this purest environment on our Earth. With the arrival of our ship “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”, all these 300 barrels are going for scrap in Bulgaria”, said the head of the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions – Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, during the preparation for loading the last waste. According to him, now it is one of the cleanest, ecological bases, perhaps on the entire Antarctic Peninsula, and why not on the whole of Antarctica. “Next to me is Admiral Mednikarov, thanks to whom we have this beautiful ship in the bay, which helped not only the entire growth of the base with the construction of the new scientific research laboratory, but also to comply with all the ecological norms of this cleanest continent on the planet”, noted Professor Pimpirev.
The head of the Naval Military Academy “N.Y. Vaptsarov” – Admiral of the Fleet Professor Boyan Mednikarov, Ph.D., emphasized that the management of the Maritime School and the command of the scientific research vessel treat the issues of environmental protection with extreme seriousness. This is a fundamental problem for seafaring, for the maritime industry and the fulfillment of the requirements of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Therefore, last year with great enthusiasm we accepted Professor Pimpirev’s idea to start an ecological operation within the framework of the 31st expedition. Last year, about two-thirds of the available waste on the coast was disposed of, and this year, on January 31, the second phase of the environmental operation was successfully completed. Today we will collect the last waste that is generated by the ongoing construction activity of the base, and I can truly confirm that this is one of the cleanest shores of Antarctica that I have touched,” said Fleet Admiral Mednikarov.
Professor Pimpirev added that there are already inquiries from several bases in the area to remove waste for a fee, and depending on whether there is free time from supporting Bulgarian Antarctic research, the Bulgarian ship may provide assistance in clearing other bases as well. He explained that previously the Bulgarian base could only use foreign ships for a fee.
The ambassador to Argentina – Stoyan Mihailov, noted that this ecological result is an example for everyone.
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2024-02-09 14:41:00
#import #tons #garbage #Antarctica
