SA’s ice breaker, SA Agullhas II, plays key role in the Endurance 22 Expedition

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is extremely proud to have played a key role in the successful Endurance 22 Expedition.

The wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, was discovered east of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Weddell Sea on Saturday, 5 March 2022.

The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust had chartered the South Africa’s ice-breaker, the SA Agulhas II, for the Expedition, with the aim of locating, surveying and filming the wreck of the Endurance, which sank during the Antarctic expedition by Sir Shackleton in 1915.

The expedition team announced yesterday (8 March 2022) that the wreck of the Endurance had been located.

“We are proud of the role that South Africa, through the SA Agulhas II, has played in the success of this expedition.  It is a success that can be attributed to the excellent cooperation between the Department, the expedition leaders and the Department’s ship management company – AMSOL,” said the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy.

The SA Agulhas II is one of the most advanced and modern polar research vessels in the world and is used by the Department for annual science and logistics expeditions into the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The ship is a shared science platform with the Department of Science and Innovation. The vessel was chartered to perform a similar voyage in 2019, but the first search for the Endurance was unsuccessful.

In addition to locating and surveying the wreckage of the Endurance, the expedition team comprising world-leading glaciologists, marine biologists, oceanographers, and marine archaeologists, also ventured into remote regions of the Weddell Sea with the hope of uncovering vital new scientific data to improve our understanding of the area. The information collected and knowledge gained will contribute to the further protection of the region.

Source: Government of South Africa