SA TEAM FINDS 107-YEAR-OLD SHIPWRECK

Hailed as the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, the Endurance has been found 107 years after it sank.

The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust contacted the South African department of forestry, fisheries and environment with the hope of getting the SA Agulhas II on board to help with the search.

The SA Agulhas II is a powerful icebreaker and its services were needed for the harsh waters of the Southern Ocean. Once the icebreaker made it through the Southern Ocean, it reached the Weddell Sea by using coordinates recorded by the captain of the Endurance, Frank Worsley, in 1914.

News24 reports that the Endurance was lodged so deep in a frozen sea that nobody who dared venture that way was able to find it. For more than 100 years the Endurance was nestled at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, disturbed only by marine creatures that dwell in the dark, darting in and out of the wooden wreck.

John Shears, mission leader and veteran polar geographer shared the team’s excitement at finding the wreck after all these decades.

“We’ve successfully completed the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea ice, blizzards and temperatures dropping to -18 degrees Celsius. We’ve achieved what many people said was impossible. The discovery of the wreck is an amazing achievement.”

Captain Knowledge Bengu and his crew of the icebreakers SA Agulhas II has been hailed as heroes. Photos of the wreck have been making headlines across the world.

Image credit: The Verge