Bulgarian Stanko Mihalev, a senior maintenance technician aboard the Canadian cruise liner that struck an iceberg and sank in Antarctica, was among the men who helped prevent a repeat of the Titanic tragedy.

The man entered the news around the world as one of the heroic officers, who stayed behind together with the captain of the liner to try to pump out water, and has only now been identified as a 43-year-old technician from the Black Sea town of Aitos.

Stanko Mihalev was aboard the ship together with his 39-year-old wife Svetlana. The couple, together with the other 152 passengers, were evacuated by life rafts and plucked up by a Norwegian cruise hours later to take them to a military base on King George Island for flights out.

"Thank God, all passengers are safe! I am proud to say that not a single person got hurt or frozen," Mihalev told on the phone 24 Hours daily.

Mihalev said the hit occurred close to midnight on Thursday local time (5 am Bulgarian time). It was not very strong and punched a hole into Explorer's hull not bigger than a fist, but the water was coming in quickly.

Two hours after the collision, the captain gave the order all passengers and crew members to abandon the ship, fearing it will sink.

"The decision came just in time. Were we ten minutes late, the life boats on one side of the board would have been hard to reach," the Bulgarian recalls.

"That's the reason why we prevented a repeat of the Titanic tragedy."

Mihalev is one of the last thirteen members of the crew who stayed behind together with the captain.

"It was very touching to see the people's gratitude in their eyes. It was only after the rescue operation ended that I realized the passengers were truly impressed by our actions. For me this is just part of the job," says Mihalev.

The tour group had embarked from Ushuaia, on Argentina's southern tip, on 11 November for a 19-day "Spirit of Shackleton" cruise through the Drake Passage, costing from around USD 8,000 per cabin.

The ship's 91 passengers hailed from more than a dozen nations, including 24 Britons, 17 Dutch, 14 Americans, 12 Canadians and 10 Australians. The ship also carried nine expedition staff members and a crew of 54.

The ship ran into trouble approximately 120km north of the Antarctic Peninsula. First reports suggested only a small hole was punched into the Explorer's hull, but the Argentine navy later said it received reports of greater damage as the ship slowly turned on its side and sank Friday evening.

Coastguards said although the weather conditions were good for this time of year, the average temperature was still -5C.

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