Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance found off Antarctica coast after over 100 years

Story highlights

Endurance was discovered at a depth of 3,008 metres (9,869 feet) in the Weddell Sea

Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915 after being crushed by a pack of ice, has been found off the coast of Antarctica by members of an expedition organised by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.

Endurance was discovered at a depth of 3,008 metres (9,869 feet) in the Weddell Sea.

An expedition team, Endurance22 Expedition, set off last month from Cape Town, South Africa, a month after the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s death on a mission to locate it.

Despite burying deep underwater, a video of the remains shows Endurance to be in remarkable condition.

Its timbers, although disrupted, are still very much together, and the name - Endurance - is clearly visible on the stern, BBC reported.

"We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance," said Mensun Bound, the expedition's director of exploration.

"This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. 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," he said in a statement.

Endurance was part of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition between 1914 and 1917.  It was 144-foot-long it carried 28 men.

It was meant to make the first land crossing of Antarctica, but it fell victim to the tumultuous Weddell Sea.

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

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

Despite the hardships, all of the crew survived.

(With inputs from agencies)