Antarctica: Expedition to find Ernest Shackleton’s sunken ship narrowly escapes same fate

Antarctic sea ice [image credit: BBC]

There’s a pattern here. How often do these gung-ho sea trips to polar regions by climate botherers — sorry, researchers — run into sea ice trouble, usually sooner rather than later?
– – –
When Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, became trapped in Antarctic sea ice in 1915, the crew had no choice but to drift helplessly for nine months before their ship finally sank, says The Telegraph (via MSN News).

The expedition to find the Endurance’s wreck came close to the same fate late on Sunday.

But where Shackleton’s men could rely only on patience, the Agulhas II has 16,000 horsepower of propulsion, movable ballast, and a container full of aviation fuel.

Endurance22 is an international project aiming to conduct scientific research in the Weddell Sea and locate the final resting place of Shackleton’s lost ship.

The team departed from Cape Town, South Africa aboard the Agulhas on February 5 and have already reached the search box where they hope to find the Endurance.

On Sunday, like its Antarctic predecessor, the Agulhas became wedged-in among pack ice stretching out to the horizon.

The ship also briefly lost its connection to the outside world, provided via satellite internet, and reportedly had other equipment failures, including with its winches.

The crew includes Dan Snow, the TV historian, who described how the ship’s crew at first tried to power themselves out by putting the four massive diesel-electric engines into full reverse.

When that failed, they activated the ship’s moveable ballast system that pumped tonnes of water from side to side to make the ship rock.

Crew ‘blasted’ its way out

To add to the effect, the ship’s company then lifted a large container filled with helicopter fuel using the ship’s crane and proceeded to swing it from side to side around the bow.

“[They’re trying] anything to try and rock us out, to break this seal that is holding us fast to the ice,” said Mr Snow.

Fortunately for the Aghulas, their ingenuity paid off and by Tuesday, Mr Snow was able to announce their escape.

Full report here.