Describing the crew’s reactions to the find, he says cheers upon seeing the data showing Endurance on the seabed turned to tears of relief as the autonomous underwater vehicle returned safely. 

The Endurance22 Expedition, working from South African polar research ship S.A. Agulhas II, was organized by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and led by British polar geographer John Shears. 

“It’s been my great privilege and honour to lead [this expedition],” says Shears. “We have made polar history and successfully completed the world’s most challenging shipwreck search.”

Mensun Bound, marine archeologist and director of exploration on the expedition, was “overwhelmed by the good fortune” in finding the vessel and struck by the excellent condition of the 144-foot shipwreck.

“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen,” says Bound. “It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see “Endurance” arced across the stern. This is a milestone in polar history.”

The wreck’s location was logged by its captain, Frank Worsley, when it went down 107 years ago. Previous attempts to locate the ship, however, failed due to the dangerous conditions of the ice-covered Weddell Sea. Endurance22 found Endurance just six kilometres from the location recorded by Worsley. 

The tale of the 28-man crew’s survival following the wreck has reached legendary status. The men trekked across the Antarctic sea ice, hunting and living off seals and penguins and then setting sail in lifeboats to reach uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and some of his crew were then tasked with rowing 1,300 kilometres to South Georgia before they could seek help from a whaling station. It took four subsequent rescue attempts for Shackleton to eventually pick up the rest of his crew, a whole two years after the Endurance originally set sail from London, England.