Raising of Shackleton’s lost ship from under sea downplayed by discoverers

Endurance became stuck in ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 1915.

Those behind the discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship have downplayed the prospect of raising it from under the sea (Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic/PA) (PA Media)

Those behind the discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship have downplayed the prospect of raising it from under the sea.

Endurance became stuck in ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 1915 and was lost until it was located by a mission vessel launched in February this year, a month after the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest’s death.

The Endurance22 Expedition director of exploration, Mensun Bound, had said he was planning to look more closely at the wreck and that raising it was being considered amid concerns it could eventually decay.

However, on Friday afternoon, The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said: “The wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under The Antarctic Treaty.

“The Endurance22 Expedition was non-intrusive, meaning the expedition successfully located, surveyed and filmed Endurance, but did not touch the ship itself.

“Furthermore, there are no plans, and never have been plans, either by the Trust or the Expedition team, to touch the wreck or to recover any of her artefacts.”

According to The Times, Alexandra Shackleton, the granddaughter of the explorer, who is believed to be the legal owner of the ship, said she wanted it to remain undisturbed.

Sir Ernest and his crew set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica but Endurance did not reach land and became trapped in dense pack ice, forcing the 28 men on board to eventually abandon ship.

They were stuck in the ice for around 10 months before escaping in lifeboats and on foot.

Asked at an event, put on by law firm BDB Pitmans in central London, if the ship will be raised, maritime archaeologist Mr Bound had said: “There are a lot of contrasting views about that. We have a range of ideas on that one.

“And we have to remember the Shackleton family, who very likely own the ship. They have fairly strong views of their own.

“Bringing it up… We’ve got to think about conserving it and the process of that, which museum is going to take that, which could take forever and a day.

“But if we leave it there, it’s organic, it’s going to decay some time beyond our lifetime.”

He also suggested there could be a “proper marine biological survey” to take a closer look at the ship.

A pair of boots and flare gun were among the items seen on the ship.

Television historian Dan Snow said the expedition, which he was a part of, was “lucky” as it was able to navigate through the sea ice with “relative ease”.

He said: “We had a brilliant search box that Mensun Bound worked out, looking at all the data from 1915, looking at where the ship probably sunk.

“They were still doing readings with the sun to fix their position, latitude and longitude, and they made daily weather observations, things like that.

“The plan was if we couldn’t near the box, to use helicopters to lift – which was a crazy plan – all the equipment required, build a camp on the ice, drill a massive hole in the ice and drop the drones like VHS tapes through the ice.

“Bonkers idea, because the ice is ever-shifting, it’s moving erratically.”

The team instead deployed a drone off the back of the ship to move around the area.

Endurance was found to be leaning on its right with ice coming “up and over” it, which “bulldozed” parts of the deck and accommodation area, although Sir Ernest’s cabin was still intact.

The ropes and mast had fallen down but were still attached and perhaps acted like a “parachute” as the ship sank.