How Saab helped find Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic shipwreck
One of the world’s great lost shipwrecks, Endurance, has just been found, 107 years after she sank off the coast of Antarctica. 令人难以置信的是，极地探险家欧内斯特·沙克尔顿爵士的著名船只是由一个使用21世纪技术的团队重新发现的, with underwater equipment and two employees from Saab involved.
In the century since she sank off the coast of Antarctica, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance’ has assumed legendary status, as one of the world’s great lost shipwrecks.
But, in a stunning turn of events, the wooden three-masted ship belonging to the famous polar explorer has just been found, sitting three kilometres underwater. And, incredibly, 这艘船看起来就像在1915年11月的一天，当她在沙克尔顿注定要失败的南极探险中消失在深海时一样. Even the Endurance’s ship sign is clearly legible!
The successful find was made on Sunday, 6th March, by eerie coincidence the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s funeral in 1922. 这是在由福克兰群岛海洋遗产信托基金赞助的为期两周的特别搜索任务结束时发生的, just as worsening weather was about to bring the expedition to a close.
And, as we explain below, two Saab Sabertooth underwater vehicles had a vital part to play in the triumphant search, with input from two Saab engineers. No wonder Peter Erkers, Sales Director at Saab's business unit Underwater Systems, says, “I’m really excited. This is really fun. 关于耐力的重新发现和星际网赌导航的参与的消息正在迅速传播!”
不要错过我们的三集纪录片，关于耐力和南极探险背后的故事.
An epic feat of endurance and survival
Endurance is a ship with a fabled yet star-crossed history. 在1914年末和1915年初，沙克尔顿的帝国跨南极探险队试图实现从西北的威德尔海到南部的罗斯海的第一次穿越南极洲, via the South Pole.
However, after managing to make the long voyage from the UK to the edge of the ‘White Continent’, Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition would soon fail. 从罗斯海一侧提供路线的支援小组中有三人在极端条件下死亡, while Endurance itself was gradually trapped by dense pack ice.
As Endurance became stuck fast, Shackleton and his 28-strong crew abandoned ship and camped on the ice, watching their vessel be slowly crushed and then sink for good on November 21st, 1915. After that the explorer and his men had no choice but to make a desperate bid for survival. They travelled northwards in Endurance’s rescued lifeboats, 穿越数百公里的海冰和南大洋的开阔水域, before they reached remote Elephant Island five months later.
From there, Shackleton and two others managed to sail on another 1,000 kilometres to South Georgia, 然后，他们不得不越过崎岖的山地，到达挪威的一个捕鲸站，为他们最终的救援发出警报. 在20世纪早期的南极探险英雄时代，沙克尔顿和他的船员们的惊人故事被称为耐力的史诗壮举之一.
The search for Shackleton’s ship
The Endurance22 expedition’s search for Shackleton’s ship followed an earlier, inconclusive effort in 2019. This latest mission brought together some of the world’s leading marine archaeologists, engineers, technicians, and sea-ice scientists, who sailed to the site on S.A. Agulhas II, one of the largest and most modern polar research vessels ever.
在阿古拉斯号上的重要设备中，有两艘星际网赌导航剑齿虎水下航行器, one sold and one rented from Saab. 星际网赌导航公司的两名雇员——软件系统工程师托马斯·安德里亚森和系统工程师拉尔斯·伦德伯格——也在科考船上, 以确保Sabertooth系统在研究小组收集和评估搜索数据时正常工作.
剑齿虎水下航行器通常与海上石油和天然气行业的应用有关, but this time they were heading for cold, dark depths more than 3,000 metres (3km) underwater. 剑齿虎是这次任务的理想选择，因为它们能够到达离发射地点很远的地方, 因为它们可以承受极低的海水温度和极深的深度来拍摄照片, video and survey data. That made it possible for the expedition to survey the site of the wreck, 即使恶劣的海冰和天气阻碍了考察船到达目的地.
著名极地探险家欧内斯特·沙克尔顿爵士的船“耐力号”在南极洲海岸水下被发现, after 107 years. It’s an incredible rediscovery of one of the world’s great lost shipwrecks.
这艘木船是由福克兰海洋遗产信托基金资助的一个团队在冰冷的威德尔海三公里深的地方发现的. 尽管在水下已经有一个世纪了，但它的状况仍然和被浮冰压碎沉没那天一样. Even the ship’s name can be clearly seen in the footage of the wreck!
Two Saab Sabertooth underwater vehicles were used in the search for Endurance, due to their ability to reach sites long distances from the launch ship, and because they could withstand the harshest environment to obtain photos, video and survey data.
Two engineers from Saab, Lars Lundberg and Thomas Andréasson, were part of the Endurance22 expedition to find Shackleton’s ship. Lars and Thomas were on board the S.A. Agulhas II research vessel to ensure that the Sabertooth technology worked properly.
The location of Endurance made waves in the world’s media, as it solves a century-old maritime mystery. Peter Erkers, Sales Director at Saab, 他说:“关于耐力重新被发现和星际网赌导航参与的消息传播得非常快!”
“There are many technical features in the system that make this application possible, such as Sabertooth’s stability, endurance and real-time update capability,” says Peter Erkers.
“There were a number of challenges for the Endurance search, including the cold temperatures and operating from moving ice, but also the extreme depths the team were going to. 实际上，星际网赌导航看到该系统在如此恶劣的条件下表现如此出色，真是太棒了. 我们已经收集了一些非常有价值的经验数据，因此我们可以利用这些数据来改进系统.”
But, as Peter Erkers confirms, 最令人兴奋的是这一令人难以置信的发现，星际网赌导航成为一段令人惊叹的海事历史的一部分:欧内斯特·沙克尔顿爵士失踪已久的耐力号终于被重新发现的那一天, after 107 years.