December 13 (BTA) - The first group of 15 polar explorers on the jubilee 30th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition could not go ashore on Livingston Island due to strong waves on the so-called Bulgarian beach there, the Director of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (BAI), Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, told BTA on Monday.

The group sailed to Antarctica on Saturday, on a Chilean warship, after a ten-day quarantine in the port of Punta Arenas.

Pimpirev said that seven of the Bulgarian explorers managed to go ashore by jumping into the waist deep water. They entered the Bulgarian Antarctic base waiting for the rest of the team. However, the ship's skipper and the Chilean Admiralty did not allow the group to break up, bringing back the seven explorers who previously managed to go ashore. Later, the Chilean warship left the 15 Bulgarian explorers on the neighboring King George Island, he explained.

King George Island has seven Antarctic bases, maintained by different countries and with a great deal of diplomacy the Bulgarian side provided shelter for its explorers in the Uruguayan base, Pimpirev added.

Another Chilean ship will probably leave the port of Punta Arenas heading for King George Island on December 18. The vessel, which carries the Bulgarian group's equipment, is expected to arrive on King George Island around December 20-21 to pick up the explorers and take them to Livingston Island, BAI Director said.

Under the best of circumstances, the Bulgarian polar explorers will be able to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas in the Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island, Pimpirev also said, voicing hope that the delay of minimum ten days would not disrupt the team's schedule significantly. RY/KK