Businessman and sailor Enda O’Coineen is spearheading a 14 million euro project to build a replica of adventurer Ernest Shackleton’s most famous ship, Endurance.

As The Sunday Independent reports, details of an “Endurance II” construction will be outlined at events planned in London and Dublin this week to mark the 150th anniversary of the Kildare man’s birth.

The newspaper says that one of the early backers had been British tycoon and adventurer Hamish Harding, who died last June in the Titan submersible implosion off the Newfoundland coast.

Endurance crushed by the ice pack in 1915

Mensun Bound, the British marine archaeologist who was director of exploration on the Discovery team that located the wreck of Shackleton’s Endurance off Antarctica in March 2022, is supporting O’Coineen’s plan.

Patrons of the Endurance II project include the Prince of Monaco, Albert II, Alexandra Shackleton, and Richard Garriott, president of the Explorer’s Club.

The newspaper says that an initial 600,000 US dollars, representing five per cent of the capital cost, is currently being sought from 12 “founders”.

It is estimated that construction would require 14 million euros, with a 1.5 million euro annual operational budget.

The original Endurance sank after being crushed in pack ice in 1915 in what Shackleton had described as "the worst portion of the worst sea in the world".

However, images taken by the Discovery expedition show it to be upright and in remarkably good condition in over 3,000 metres of water.

The stern of Endurance in an image taken by the Discovery expedition in 2022 show it to be upright and in remarkably good condition in over 3,000 metres of water

An assessment published last year by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust recommended it be left where it is, and said the risk of people travelling to the site to steal from it is “relatively minor”.

Read The Sunday Independent here

Celebrations are planned for Dublin and London for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Irish Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton on Thursday (15 February).

Born in Co Kildare, Shackleton led three expeditions to the icy regions of the South Pole, most famously on board his ship the Endurance. He was one of the most renowned explorers of the age of exploration.

He was awarded the Polar Medal by King Edward VII for his expeditions and to mark his anniversary, the Irish Government is now being urged to purchase the medal for display.

“If this medal is sold to a private collector it will disappear,” said Kevin Kenny of the Shackleton Museum in Athy.

“But its real value is as an inspiring and historic artifact and the best place for this is on public display, with the Shackleton Museum being its natural home. It’s just a matter of the Irish State making the small investment needed.”

The coming week will see several events to mark the anniversary. On Wednesday (14 February), a dinner will be held in the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, hosted jointly by the Atlantic Youth Trust and Explorers Club Ireland and the UK.

Speakers include Antarctic explorer and climber Pat Falvey, diver Rory Golden and round-the-world sailor Enda O’Coineen. Tickets priced €85 are available form Eventbrite.

Golden, who has dived on the Titanic and is a member of the Explorers Club, said: “Ernest Shackleton was the epitome of vision, courage and leadership. This is represented by or chapter of the Explorers Club logo of the James Caird boat from the Endurance being hauled ashore on South Georgia after its epic 17-day journey from Elephant Island. His 150th anniversary will hopefully inspire the next generation of scientists and adventurers in a new age of discovery.”

On Thursday, Ireland’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Martin Fraser will host a reception in the Irish Embassy in London. Later, a memorial stone to Sir Ernest Shackleton will be dedicated at Westminster Abbey, close to memorials for other renowned explorers Captain James Cook and Sir Francis Chichester.

Ambassador Fraser is hosting the event on behalf of the Atlantic Youth Trust, in their work to have Shackleton be recognised as a great Irish explorer and as an example and motivator for future generations, which is the charity’s mission.

The Shackleton medal was one of many international honours bestowed on the explorer. It has three clasps to mark his three expeditions to the South Pole.

His ship, the Endurance, which sank when crushed by the ice in 1915, was found in the Weddell Sea two years ago — 100 years to the day after the explorer’s funeral on 5 March 1922.

Chairman of the Atlantic Youth Trust, Enda O’Coineen said that Shackleton was very much an Irish explorer and every effort needed to be made to reclaim his legacy fully.

“This medal and other artefacts need to be returned,” he said.

An assessment of Ernest Shackleton's lost ship, the wreck of the Endurance in the Antarctic, recommends it is best preserved if left where it is.

The shipwreck is 3,000 metres below sea level and in a "very stable" condition, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) says.

As Press Association reports, the team has said the risk of people travelling to the site to steal from it is “relatively minor”.

A photo of the stern of Endurance discovered by a British-led expedition last year in 2022 Photo: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic

Endurance became stuck in ice and sank in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 1915, and was lost until it was located by a British-led expedition last year.

The identification was just months after the 100th anniversary of Shackleton's death.

The Co Kildare explorer had said it was "the worst portion of the worst sea in the world".

Camilla Nichol, of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), told the PA news agency: "Endurance is best preserved and kept on the seafloor where it is at the moment.

"It's stable, it's preserved, it's in great shape considering its demise in 1915” Nichol said.

"The recommendation is absolutely to leave it in situ and intact, no retrieving of the ship's bell or anything like that. Keep it whole so it can tell its story coherently."

Read the PA report on RTE News here

Marine Archaeologist Mensun Bound, named by National Geographic as ’the Indiana Jones of the Deep’, will thrill Ireland's Atlantic Youth Trust organisation with the story of how the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, was found in the most hostile sea on earth in 2022.

As previously reported by Afloat with podcast interview here, Bound will tell the RDS audience about the extraordinary expedition which found Shackleton"s Endurance - 100 years later under the ice.

Grace O'Malley update

The Atlantic Youth Trust (AYT) team will also provide an update on the Lady Ellen, aka Grace O’Malley Ship and plans for 2023.

Marine Archaeologist Mensun Bound, named by National Geographic as ’the Indiana Jones of the Deep’, was Director of Exploration of Endurance22 expedition on the sea ice of Weddell Sea, in the Antarctic Photo: Esther Horvath

AYT's Enda O'Coineen, is now snug for the winter at Harland and Wolf Shipyard following her Tour of Ireland this summer.

The event is on Thursday, 1 December 2022, 17:00 – 19:00. More details here

Marine archaeologist Mensun Bound has witnessed great works of art lying on the seabed and chests overflowing with treasure, but says, “nothing compares with finding the Endurance....”

Speaking at the recent Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, Co Kildare, Bound described how he could still recall that “hairs-rising-on-the-back-of-your-neck feeling” when he first observed the images of the Endurance, filmed at a depth of 3,008 metres, in early March 2022.

Bound, who was born in the Falkland Islands, has discovered many of the world’s most famous shipwrecks. From 1994 to 2013, he was Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at St Peter’s College, Oxford University.

Latterly, he was director of exploration on the two expeditions to locate the Endurance in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, and is a trustee of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, which organised the ambitious project.

The Ship Beneath The Ice, is a compelling account of the two dramatic expeditions to find the Endurance

His new book, The Ship Beneath The Ice, is a compelling account of the two dramatic expeditions to find the vessel in what Shackleton called “the most hostile sea on Earth”.

As with Shackleton, Bound experienced failure and despair, and at times his own ship was on the cusp of being frozen in ice, much like the Endurance. 

He spoke to Wavelengths in Athy, recalling how it all started with a cup of coffee, describing the influence of the Falkland islands on his career in maritime archaeology, the technology used to locate the Endurance, and what he would really have liked to have seen on the wreck.

You can listen to the interview below

The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance, published by Macmillan in both hardback and paperback, is available in all good bookshops.

Marine archaeologist Mensun Bound has witnessed great works of art lying on the seabed and chests overflowing with treasure but says, “nothing compares with finding the Endurance....”

In an interview with The Irish Examiner, Bound says he can still recall that “hairs-rising-on-the-back-of-your-neck feeling” when he observed the video of Ernest Shackleton’s most famous ship, filmed at a depth of 3,008 metres in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea.

“My first view was of the stern of the ship, and then there was the rudder which had given them so many problems, lying in the mud innocently, but we could clearly see the damage it had sustained,” Bound told newspaper, recalling the first submersible images from three miles down on March 5th, 2022.

Ernest Shackleton’s most famous ship, Endurance filmed at a depth of 3,008 metres in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea

The Falklands-born archaeologist, who is due to speak at the Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, Co Kildare on Saturday (Oct 29), described seeing “the ship’s name arching over the stern, and the camera rose higher to capture the ship’s wheel, and higher again to film the portholes of Shackleton’s cabin....it was quite surreal”.

Just a fortnight before, he and an international team on board the South African icebreaking polar supply and research ship SA Agulhas II has fallen into a collective depression over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We may have been thousands of miles away and off the charts, but we weren’t immune to world news. And then, all of a sudden there was this very positive thing, where the clouds seemed to peel back and the sun came out for a brief time, and Dan Snow, our historian on board, was speaking to millions of people around the world...”

A fifth generation Falkland islander who grew up, as he says, “bringing peat in for fires on a horse and cart”, Bound has discovered many of the world’s best known shipwrecks.

Many artefacts he recovered are on exhibition in over a dozen museums around the world. The Discovery Channel, which nicknamed him the “Indiana Jones of the Deep”, commissioned a four-part series on his work, entitled Lost Ships.

He began his career in underwater archaeology in Turkey with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. He founded the first academic unit for maritime archaeology in England, and from 1992 to 2013 was the Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at St Peter’s College, Oxford University.

Among his expeditions have been location of the Campese Bay wreck off Giglio in Italy, which filled vital knowledge gaps on the Etruscan trade around 600 BC; and recovery of intact porcelain from the Hoi An ship, which was wrecked in the South China Sea in the mid 15th century.

He has surveyed Lord Nelson’s ship, Agamemnon, he located the first world war German wreck of the Scharnhorst off the Falkland islands; and he was involved in several expeditions to the battle cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, a symbol of German might, which was scuttled off Uruguay in 1939.

Coming from the Falklands, he had been a Shackleton enthusiast from a very young age. “The Boss” had been to the Falklands several times. On at least one visit, Shackleton, Tom Crean, and the captain of the Endurance, Frank Worsley, had stayed at a boarding house run by Bound’s great-great-uncle, Vincent Biggs and left their signatures in its guest book.

However, when the idea of an expedition to search for the Endurance was mentioned over a coffee in London’s South Kensington just over a decade ago, Bound wasn’t too keen.

Read more in The Irish Examiner HERE

The Ship Beneath the Ice: the Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound is published by Macmillan on October 27th

Bound is speaking at the Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, Co Kildare on Saturday, October 29th. Further details are on www.shackletonmuseum.com

A perimeter measuring 500m is being implemented to aid the protection of Endurance, the ship famously lost in the Antarctic by explorer Ernest Shackleton.

The vessel's position on the Weddell Sea floor was (as Afloat reported) finally identified in March, 107 years after its sinking.

Member states of the Antarctic Treaty have already declared the wreck, which lies in 3,000m of water, a Historic Site and Monument (HSM).

Now they have asked for a management plan to guide its ongoing conservation.

This will be drawn up by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). It will determine the kinds of restrictions and responsibilities that will be placed on anyone who goes near Endurance in the future.

Even now a permit is required to visit the ship says BBC News which has report with videos and images.

Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance has been located in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea just 106 years after it was crushed in ice.

The wreck of the ship has been filmed by the Endurance 22 expedition at a depth of 3009 metres (9868 ft) after it was located by the team onboard the South African polar research vessel SS Agulhas II.

Its location was confirmed exactly 100 years to the day after Shackleton’s funeral on March 5th 1922.

South African polar research vessel SS Agulhas II Ship at sea-4. Photo: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and James Blake

“The worst portion of the worst sea in the world” was how the Irish explorer had described the location when the Endurance was crushed in 1915 during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916.

Menson Bound, Director of Exploration of Endurance22 expedition (l) and John Shears, Expedition Leader (r) on the sea ice of Weddell Sea, in the Antarctic with S.A.Agulhas II in the background. Photo: Esther Horvath

Shackleton and crew were forced to take to the ice, with the leader and five men - including Kerryman Tom Crean and Corkman Tim McCarthy - subsequently undertaking one of the world’s most famous sea rescue voyages from Elephant island to South Georgia.

The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said the shipwreck was found approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by Capt Frank Worsley.

John Shears, Expedition Leader, Lasse Rabenstein,Chief Scientist of Endurance22 and Carl Elkington Team Leader of White Desert measure sea ice thickness on an ice floe in the Weddell Sea during the first science day. Photo: Esther Horvath

Marine archaeologist and exploration director Mensun Bound said:

“We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance”.

“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,” he said.

(Above and below) Sub-sea team of Endurance22 expedition and crew of S.A.Agulhas II recover the AUV after a dive in the Weddell Sea, in search for Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship the Endurance. From left to right: Dean Cedras crew of S.A.Agulhas II, J.C. Caillens, Off-Shore Manager, Frédéric Bassemayousse and Wayne Auton from White Desert team. Photo: Esther Horvath

“You can even see “Endurance” arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail. This is a milestone in polar history,” he said.

Master of the S.A. Agulhas II Capt. Knowledge Bengu used Saab’s Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles to find the shipwreck.

Photo, video and a laser pictures of Endurance22 displayed in the control room of the AUV on board of S.A.Agulhas II. Photo: Esther Horvath

The trust noted that the wreck is protected as an historic site and monument under the Antarctic Treaty, “ensuring that whilst the wreck is being surveyed and filmed it will not be touched or disturbed in any way”.

Speaking to the BBC, Bound said that " this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen - by far”.

“It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation.

“You can even see the ship's name - E N D U R A N C E - arced across its stern directly below the taffrail (a handrail near the stern),” he told the BBC.

“ And beneath, as bold as brass, is Polaris, the five-pointed star, after which the ship was originally named,” he said, adding “you would have to be made of stone not to feel a bit squishy at the sight of that star and the name above”.

“And just under the tuck of the stern, laying in the silt is the source of all their troubles, the rudder itself,” Bound said.

“ You will remember that it was when the rudder was torn to one side by the ice that the water came pouring in and it was game over. It just sends shivers up your spine,” he said.

“When you rise up over the stern, there is another surprise. There, in the well deck, is the ship's wheel with all its spokes showing, absolutely intact. And before it is the companionway (with the two leaves of its door wide open) leading down to the cabin deck,” he said.

Endurance's wheel with all its spokes showing

“ The famous Frank Hurley (expedition photographer) picture of Thomas Ord Lees (motor expert) about to go down into the ship was taken right there,” Bound noted.

“And beside the companionway, you can see a porthole that is Shackleton's cabin. At that moment, you really do feel the breath of the great man upon the back of your neck,” he said.

Bound said the funnel is there with its steam whistle attached, close to the engine room skylight.

He identified two boots, which may or may not be a pair, along with several plates and a cup in the debris field beside the wreck.

Although the wardroom had been crushed when the mast fell, its outline can still be seen, along with the galley and pantry, he said.

Bound described the bow as “amazing”

“The masts, spars, booms and gaffs are all down, just as in the final pictures of her taken by Frank Hurley. You can see the breaks in the masts just as in the photos,” Bound said.

“You can even see the holes that Shackleton's men cut in the decks to get through to the 'tween decks to salvage supplies, etc, using boat hooks,” he said.

“ In particular, there was the hole they cut through the deck in order to get into "The Billabong", the cabin in "The Ritz" that had been used by Hurley, Leonard Hussey (meteorologist), James McIlroy (surgeon) and Alexander Macklin (surgeon), but which was used to store food supplies at the time the ship went down,” Bound noted.

Bound said he had hoped to find Orde Lees' bicycle, but “that wasn't visible”,

He had also hoped to find honey jars used by biologist Robert lark to preserve his samples, but did not see them.

One of the last images of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance until now. After more than a hundred years under the ice of the Weddell Sea the ship was located and photographed again

“ We hope our discovery will engage young people and inspire them with the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed Endurance to Antarctica,” Bound said.

“We pay tribute to the navigational skills of Captain Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance, whose detailed records were invaluable in our quest to locate the wreck,” he said.

Bound thanked colleagues at the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust “for enabling this extraordinary expedition to take place, as well as Saab for their technology, and the whole team of dedicated experts who have been involved in this monumental discovery”.

One of the world’s leading shipwreck hunters David Mearns had described the challenge of finding the vessel as “the most difficult” due to the ice conditions.

The search for the remains of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic-exploring achieved success today with ghostly images of the remarkably well-preserved vessel being sent to the search expedition.

Afloat has more on the story here

The Kildare-born Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton becomes more famous with every passing year, particularly in America where his successful saving of the lives of every member of his doomed 1914-1916 expedition with the ice-crushed Endurance is used in top business
schools as a study in successful adaptive leadership. Thus the possibility that much of the Endurance may remain largely intact deep under the surface ice of the Weddell Sea is a source of increasing fascination, but in 2007 a search expedition failed to find her as they lost contact with their free-moving submersible.

Today a new Endurance-seeking expedition is underway from South Africa, this time with a submersible that will maintain direct line-linked contact - The New York Times has the story here