Britons to try again to find wreck of Endurance research vessel

A team of scientists has announced that another exploration expedition will set off to try and find the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance research ship.

In February 2022, a group of explorers will once again attempt to find the wreck of the research ship Endurance. In 1914, Ernest Shackleton’s research mission to the Antarctic set off on board this vessel. The famous Irish explorer and his crew faced extreme weather and fought a dramatic battle for their lives as a result.

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Thewreck of the research vessel Endurance, is probably one of the most valuable for the British, which still has not been found. Over the years they have made many attempts to find the remains of the vessel, but without success.

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917

Theship Endurance, which sank during the ill-fated 1914-1917 expedition to the Antarctic, lies at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The big problem that successive search expeditions face is the ice covering the local waters. But the British prospectors seem determined and tireless. After the failures of the past, they are determined to get what they want.

During the expedition, which they carried out in 2019, they lost, among other things, the AUV underwater vehicle they used during the search. Having learned from experience, this time they intend to take several vehicles of different types with them to avoid a similar situation. They hope to finally write the final chapter on the Shackleton expedition.

The researchers stress that if they do find the wreck, they will only make detailed photographic and film documentation of it. They will also carefully map the site, but will not excavate any artefacts. The wreck of the research vessel Endurance is a historically significant site and has been declared a monument under the international Antarctic Treaty.

This ship has become iconic. Shackleton’s epic tale of survival strikes a chord across the centuries. It is also the most famous wreck still to be discovered, and the most difficult to locate – said Dr John Shears.

Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the research ship Endurance, who were carrying out the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, were stranded at sea by ice. For more than ten months the ship drifted in the Weddell Sea until it was finally crushed by the ice and sank. Legends abound about how Shackleton and his men escaped on foot and in lifeboats.

However, there is no shortage of problems. Reaching this part of the Weddell Sea, east of the Larsen Ice Shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula, is extremely difficult. Even today, when we have much better tools and incomparably more efficient vessels. Nature is very demanding, and even the best icebreakers can be helpless.