Advertisement

Discovery of Antarctic explorer Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance brought to big screen

Film tells 2 remarkable stories, of how wreck was found 3km underwater in the Antarctic and Shackleton’s 1916 escape from the icebound ship

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
The wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, which until 2022 had not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. A new documentary recounts its discovery and Shackleton’s doomed expedition and escape to safety. Photo: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust via PA Media/dpa

Legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance sank more than a century ago and its wreck lay undiscovered at the bottom of the Weddell Sea until March 2022.

Advertisement
Now the team behind its discovery has joined forces with an Oscar-winning film crew for a new National Geographic documentary showcasing how they located the storied vessel’s last resting place.

Endurance features thousands of 3D scans shot by a 4K camera deployed to a depth of 3,000 metres (9,840 feet). It premiered at the London Film Festival on October 12 before its release in cinemas and then on Disney+.

The never-before-seen footage captures everything from a flare gun and man’s boot to dinnerware used by the crew and identifiable parts of the vessel.

YouTube video player

“We were absolutely blown away,” Mensun Bound, the 2022 discovery team’s director of exploration, said.

Advertisement
Advertisement