Cape Town mayor praises discovery of Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship in Antarctic

In this photo issued by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, a view of the stern of the wreck of Endurance, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship. /Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic via AP

Cape Town, South Africa mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis has congratulated the crew on locating the wreck of Endurance, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship which sank off the Antarctic continent in 1915.

An expedition team, Endurance22 Expedition, departed from Cape Town last month on a South African polar research and logistics vessel to locate, survey and film the wreck of Endurance. It announced Wednesday that it had found the ship at a depth of 3,048 meters in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.

The discovery will contribute to historical and scientific research of the Antarctic region, the mayor said in a statement issued later Wednesday, adding that he expected to receive the crew at the Cape Town harbor on their return from the Antarctic.

The wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty.