Ice sheets in Antarctica Photo: VCG

A South African icebreaker departed Saturday in search of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, which sank off the coast of Antarctica in 1915 after being slowly crushed by pack ice. 

"The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust is pleased to confirm that the Endurance22 Expedition, which is aiming to locate, survey and film the wreck of Endurance... has departed on schedule from Cape Town, headed for the Weddell Sea in Antarctica," the expedition's organizers announced.

As part of the renowned polar explorer's Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition between 1914 and 1917, Endurance was meant to make the first land crossing of Antarctica, but it fell victim to the Weddell Sea. 

Just east of the Larsen ice shelves on the Antarctic peninsula, it became ensnared in sea-ice for over 10 months before being crushed and sinking some 3,000 meters below the surface.

The voyage is something of a legend, due to the miraculous escape Shackleton and his crew made on foot and in boats.

The crew managed to escape by camping on the sea ice until it ruptured. 

They then launched life boats to Elephant Island and then South Georgia Island, a British overseas territory that lies around 1,400 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands.

The South African icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II set off from Cape Town on Saturday morning with a crew of 46 and a 64-member expedition team aboard.

"The preparation has been comprehensive, although not without its challenge, including COVID[-19]," said Donald Lamont, chairman of the organizers. But "the team has remained nimble and determined and this has brought us to where we are today."

AFP