The Endurance found near coast of Antarctica

Scientists have found the Endurance shipwreck more than a century after Sir Ernest Shackleton tried and failed to cross Antarctica, a team searching for the long-lost vessel said on Wednesday.

Video footage of the shipwreck in its current state shows the boat to be in remarkable condition, even though it has been sitting in water for over a century,

"We are overwhelmed by our good fortune...," said Mensun Bound, the research expedition's director of exploration.

"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."

What happened to the Endurance?

The Endurance was crushed and submerged by ice and sank some 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) to the ocean floor in late 1915.

The three-masted vessel was lost during Shackleton's failed attempt at making the first land crossing of Antarctica.

Despite being stranded on the ice, the 28-man crew of the Endurance made it back home alive and their story is considered one of the greatest acts of survival in human history.

How was it discovered?

Previous attempts to locate the 144-foot-long wooden ship had failed due to the conditions of the ice-covered Weddell Sea, the waters where the world's largest-ever iceberg was spotted in 2020.

However, the Endurance22 mission, organized by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and using advanced underwater vehicles called Sabertooths fitted with high-definition cameras and scanners, tracked the vessel's remains down.

"This has been the most complex subsea project ever undertaken, with several world records achieved to ensure the safe detection of Endurance," said Nico Vincent, the Subsea Project Manager.

Footage showed the ship in remarkably good condition, with its name clearly visible on the stern.

jsi/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)