In 1915, an expedition vessel sank off the coast of Antarctica after it was crushed by ice floating in the sea, sinking 3000 metres to the bottom of the Weddell Sea. However, the crew managed to get out alive, the exact location of the wreckage remains unknown.
Now, nearly 107 years later, a team of South African researchers will board the SA Agulhas II and with the support of a SA helicopter business, will go on the hunt for the Endurance, as per Business Insider.
The team will be keeping their eyes peeled for the Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, which is said to be the last relic of the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration”.
The Endurance 22 Expedition is set to make its departure from Cape Town on Saturday, 5 February using the SA Agulhas II, while the helicopter company will be supplying two choppers that will drop remote-controlled SAAB Sabertooth underwater vehicles into the water. These nifty underwater vehicles can travel 160 km from where they are launched to help locate the lost Endurance.
This isn’t the first historic mission that began on the shores of Cape Town.
Meanwhile, it was also a historical moment and a world-first for Hi Fly after successfully landing an Airbus A340 in Antarctica. Captain Carlos Mirpuri and his crew flew the widebody aircraft from Cape Town to the White Continent and back. The journey was 2,500 nautical miles for over five hours each way.
Also read: WATCH: Airbus A340 departed from Cape Town and successfully landed in Antarctica
The aircraft, which has never landed on an Antarctic blue glacial ice runway before, will be used this season to fly a small number of tourists, alongside scientists and essential cargo to Antarctica.
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Picture: Instagram