(Cape Town) A South African icebreaker set sail on Saturday for an expedition to search for the wreck of the Endurance, the ship of British explorer Ernest Shackleton, crushed by the ice on the coast of Antarctica in 1915 and which sank at a depth of 3000 m.
Posted at 10:47 a.m.
“The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust is pleased to confirm that the Endurance22 expedition, aiming to locate, observe and film the wreck of the Endurance […] departed on schedule from Cape Town, en route to the Weddell Sea, said the expedition organizers, a foundation showcasing the marine and maritime heritage of the South Atlantic.
The South African icebreaker SA Agulhas II has a crew of 46 and the 64 members of the expedition on board.
The Endurance had left the British island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic at the end of 1914 to take the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by Shackleton, to attempt the 1D crossing of the Antarctic continent, from the Weddell Sea to the Roos Sea, via the South Pole.
But in January 1915, the Endurance found itself caught in the ice of the Weddell Sea, near the Larsen Ice Shelf. Imprisoned for months, the 44m three-masted schooner was slowly crushed and sank in November 1915, at a depth of 3000m.
This expedition has become legendary because of the survival of the crew who camped for months on the pack ice before it broke, then joined by canoe and found refuge on the inhospitable and icy Elephant Island, facing the Antarctic Peninsula.
But also because of Shackleton’s daring journey in an Endurance canoe with a few companions to seek help as far as South Georgia and who will return to save his entire crew.
The Endurance22 expedition should last between 35 and 45 days through ice and cold. She hopes to find the wreckage of the Endurance using advanced technologies and explore it using two underwater drones.
Shackleton had described the spot where the Endurance sank as “the worst part of the worst sea in the world” and the Weddell Sea remains one of the toughest places to navigate, with the thickness of its pack ice likely to cause problems even for modern icebreakers.
If it is discovered – which is far from certain – the wreckage will not be affected but a 3D scan will be carried out.
“In terms of finding wrecks, this is the hardest,” renowned wreck hunter David Mearns told AFP, “you won’t find anything harder, because of the glacial environment.”