Johannesburg, South Africa: Endurance, the lost ice ship of Ernest Shackleton, has been found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea of the Antarctic. The Endurance ship was crushed by a pack of ice when it was on a voyage to cross the Antarctic continent in 1915. Members of the Endurance22 expedition have found, filmed, and surveyed the wreck. This expedition was set out in February 2022 to search the submerged Endurance ship.
The Endurance22 expedition had started in South Africa in February 2022. It was headed towards Antarctica where the Endurance ship had sunk in November 1915. The expedition was given a time of 35 days with a possible extension of 10 days to find the century-old wreckage. The expedition had to take an extension and it has found the Endurance ship submerged in the Weddell Sea in the last week of the extended time limit.
According to History Hit, the Director of Exploration of the Endurance22 expedition, Mensun Bound has said while talking to Discovery, “We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation.”
The submerged ship was found at a depth of 3008 meters. It is protected by the Antarctic treaty. According to this, it is now identified as ‘Historic Site and Monument’ and it cannot be disturbed. Advanced underwater search vehicles and surveying tools were used by the Endurance22 expedition team to survey and document the wreck site without disturbing it. Knowledge Bengu captained the expedition. Marine archaeologists, engineers, scientists, and extreme environment filmmakers were part of the expedition team.
Ernest Shackleton had attempted the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent in his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that he had planned from 1914 to 1917. He had departed on his Endurance ship from South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean to Antarctica on December 5, 1915. On January 18, 1915, the ship was trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea.
It remained wedged within the ice pack for the next 10 months. It later sank on November 21, 1915. The crew of 28 people survived and returned to South Georgia. The Endurance ship was lost in the waters of the Weddell Sea which is now discovered by the Endurance22 expedition after almost 107 years.