The two Bulgarian nationals who were among the crew aboard the ship that sank after hitting an iceberg off Antarctica returned back home late Wednesday welcomed by their relatives.

Stanko Mihalev and his wife Svetlana, who were together on board of the 2,400-tonne Canadian MV Explorer that sank near Argentina were busy telling reporters the story of the sunk cruiser.

Mihalev, a senior maintenance technician of the ship entered the news around the world as one of the heroic officers, who stayed behind together with the captain of the liner trying to pump out water while the other passengers were abandoning the ship.

"When the alarm rang out about midnight, I went out not knowing what was going on," Svetlana Mihaleva describes the frightening experience.

At that time Stanko is on his way to the machine compartment where he sees water coming in.

"It was scary. I was afraid for my life," the sailor admits.

Svetlana Mihaleva is already in a safety raft in the ice cold see, while her husband pumps out water on the ship in a final attempt to prevent sinking.

He sees Svetlana about 5.30 am when he finally abandons the ship with the rest of the crew who stayed behind.

The couple, together with the other 152 passengers, were plucked up by a Norwegian cruise to take them to a military base on King George Island for flights out.

The Explorer that sank on November 23 was specially designed to sail among ice and passengers had paid USD 8,000 for the dangerous cruise near Antarctica.

The Canadian company that operated the ship is currently preparing another liner for Antarctic cruises as more people curiously want to sail among icebergs after the accident.

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