In early February, the Endurance22 expedition set off from Cape Town, South Africa for Antarctica’s Weddell Sea aboard the icebreaking research ship, SA Agulhas II. Their objective is to locate, survey, and film the wreck of Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ship that sank after being crushed in Antarctic pack ice in 1915. Last week, history briefly repeated itself. As they approached the location where the Endurance was lost, SA Agulhas II became stuck in the ice after the mercury dipped to -10C. 

Fortunately, using the ship’s power, assisted by a deck crane that swung a fuel container back and forth to rock the ship, the crew was able to free the SA Agulhas II after several hours.

Endurance was the three-masted barquentine in which Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men and one cat sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. She was launched in 1912 from Sandefjord in Norway. Three years later, she was crushed by pack ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica. All of her crew survived. Shackleton may be best remembered for leading an epic 720-nautical-mile open-boat journey to a South Georgia whaling station to arrange for the rescue of his crew.

Stuck in the ice: Finding the Endurance E23

Thanks to Virginia Jones for contributing to this post.