Ernest Shackleton News

In the early morning hours of September 26, 2022, seismologists located throughout northern Europe detected two disturbances originating in the Baltic Sea that were consistent with underwater explosions. Within hours, an aerial image captured by a passing Danish F-16 showed an expanse of frothy seawater, suggesting that the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines had experienced a catastrophic event. Within days, an investigation by the Swedish Security Service concluded that both pipelines had sustained extensive damage due to an act of gross sabotage.

It was 1914 when the English explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard a ship called Endurance. It was an ill-fated journey: the ship got trapped in the ice and eventually crushed by pack ice in 1915. It sank to the bottom of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. (Shackleton and his entire crew survived the ordeal by escaping in smaller boats.)It was difficult to believe that the Endurance might ever be found. The icy Weddell Sea is inhospitable and the wreck lay in more than 3000 metres of water.

The wreckage of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which was crushed by Antarctic ice and sank some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) to the ocean floor more than a century ago, has been found, a team searching for it said on Wednesday.The three-masted sailing ship was lost in November 1915 during Shackleton’s failed attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.Previous attempts to locate the 144-foot-long wooden wreck, whose location was logged by its captain Frank Worsley…

Lindblad Expeditions officially launched the newest addition to its fleet, National Geographic Endurance, at a dockside christening ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland, the first christening of an international vessel in Reykjavík Harbor.The occasion, a closed ceremony exclusively for Lindblad Expeditions guests, marked a major milestone for the line as the first polar new build in the company’s history. Named to honor legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton, National Geographic Endurance…

Ireland's new marine research vessel due to enter service in 2022 will be named the RV Tom Crean, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue announced. "I am delighted to announce the name of Ireland's new marine research vessel is the RV Tom Crean, acknowledging the contribution of a legendary Irish Explorer," McConalogue said.Tom Crean was a renowned seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world…

Oslo-listed offshore vessel owner GC Rieber Shipping said Tuesday it had delivered the Polar King inspection, maintenance, and repair vessel to its new owners.The delivery to new owners, who are yet to be named, comes following last week's announcement by GC Rieber that the vessel would be sold and that the proceeds would be used to repay the vessel's outstanding debt in full.The 110.6 meters long Polar King is on a charter (until September) with marine cable supplier Nexans.

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, a global player in expedition cruises and adventure travel experiences, has celebrated the float out of National Geographic Endurance in Ulstein Verft, Norway.The first polar newbuild for the line, the 126-guest vessel is fully stabilized with the highest ice class (PC5 Category A) of any purpose-built passenger vessel, according to a press release.The vessel is scheduled for delivery in January 2020.Read Maritime Reporter & Engineering News' feature on Sven Lindblad from earlier in 2019 here: https://www.marinelink.com/news/explorer-profile-sven-lindblad-463899"Due to Polar Class 5 (PC5), the ship can venture far into polar areas.

Norwegian shipping company GC Rieber Shipping ASA had a fleet utilization of 100% in the second quarter of 2019.The operator of offshore subsea support vessels, marine seismic vessels and polar logistics and research expeditions said that the subsea and ice/support vessels have contract coverage of 44% for the remainder of the year while Shearwater GeoServices Shearwater has confirmed backlog of more than 26 vessel-months in the third and fourth quarter of 2019 following the award of multiple seismic acquisition contracts.GC Rieber Shipping had operating income of NOK 91.9 million in the second quarter of 2019, compared with NOK 60.7 million in the corresponding period 2018. EBITDA was NOK 41.3 million, compared with NOK 9.3 million in the second quarter of 2018.

Norwegian shipping company GC Rieber Shipping has completed the process of redelivery and sale of the icebreaking research vessel 'Ernest Shackleton' to the new owner Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS).The redelivery of the vessel from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) marked the end of a nearly 20-year relationship between British Antarctic Survey and GC Rieber Shipping, said a press release from the operator of offshore subsea support vessels, marine seismic vessels and polar logistics and research expeditions.Ernest Shackleton was developed by GC Rieber Shipping based on decades of icebreaker experience and built at Kværner Kleven Leirvik in Norway in 1995.The vessel…

As the North American offshore wind model evolves, it is clear that fit-for-purpose, Jones Act compliant and Arctic ready tonnage will need to be part of the equation. If so, we’ve got that box checked, with a little help from Europe.As of September 2018, the Walney Extension off the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 659 megawatts. There are at least 70 major wind farms, each with hundreds of wind turbines, each generating as much as 10 megawatts in offshore England, the North Sea, Russia and China.

A cargo ship loaded with 4,500 tonnes of steel and construction equipment required to build a new Antarctic wharf has arrived at British Antarctic Survey (BAS)'s Rothera Research Station.Staff awaiting its arrival cheered as the DS Wisconsin pulled alongside, guided for the final few hours through sea ice by the ice-strengthened RRS Ernest Shackleton. Work began immediately on the huge task of unloading the cargo, which is likely to take around two weeks.The ship, containing plant, 83 containers, permanent and temporary materials and 1,000 tonnes of steelwork, departed the UK in late November for her month-long journey.Her arrival at Rothera is a major milestone in the modernisation of the UK’s Antarctic infrastructure…

Hutchison Ports Harwich International has become a new base for the British Antarctic Survey’s two ice-strengthened Royal Research Ships, the RRS James Clark Ross and the RRS Ernest Shackleton.The two ships are making their inaugural calls at the port in September before deploying to the Antarctic, where they will remain until summer 2019.Commenting on the calls, Mark Seaman, Finance Director, Hutchison Ports (UK), said: “Harwich International is well known for its excellent ferry links to the Continent, however, the port has a wide range of facilities and handles a variety of cargoes and ship types. We normally see general and project cargoes as well as both dry and liquid bulks…

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc., a global provider of expedition cruises and adventure travel experiences, and Ulstein Group, Norwegian shipbuilder and ship designer, celebrated the keel laying of Lindblad’s first polar new build. The keel laying at the CRIST shipyard in Gdynia, Poland, marked a milestone in the construction of the sophisticated expedition ship, and served as the official naming ceremony of the line’s latest addition to the Lindblad-National Geographic fleet. “We are thrilled to announce the name of our new polar ship: National Geographic Endurance, due for delivery in the first quarter of 2020,” said Sven Lindblad, President and CEO of Lindblad Expeditions.

Subsea Industries’ Ecospeed hull protection system has been selected for RRS Sir David Attenborough, the polar research ship under construction at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, Liverpool, U.K. The £150 million contract to build the vessel, which Cammell Laird won in 2015, represents the biggest commercial shipbuilding contract in Britain for 30 years. The ship has been commissioned by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) and will be operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

Subsea Industries has received an order for its specialist hull and rudder coatings for application to a shallow draught anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel under construction at Turkey’s Atlas Shipyard. The hard-type coatings were selected amidst strong competition because of their proven performance in polar waters. The Ice-Class 1A, 65m tug will carry out anchor handling and oil recovery duties in the ecologically sensitive Arctic in compliance with the IMO Polar Code requirements, due to enter into force in January.

The cruise ship MV Crystal Serenity, owned by the US-based Crystal Cruises, is scheduled to set sail from Seward, Alaska to New York on a 32 day, 1,500 km journey through the Northwest Passage via Canada and Greenland on August 16 with with 1,000 passengers on board. The Cruise ship will sail the legendary route 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, first completed successfully by Roald Amundsen more than 100 years ago. The wildlife charity WWF has accused Crystal Cruises of putting at risk “the very thing that tourists would come to see” – a pristine wilderness and home to endangered species such as polar bears and walrus. Crystal Serenity will be accompanied by UK’s ice-strengthened polar logistics and science vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton…

The public are being asked to name the UK’s new polar research ship. The current front-runner for the vessel's name is already gathering a lot of attention: RRS Boaty McBoatface. An open vote has been set up to name the next Royal Research Ship (RRS), with the public allowed to come up and vote for new names of the vessel. The £200m, 15,000-tonne, 128m-long vessel is being built at Cammell Laird on Merseyside, and is due to become operational in 2019 to explore the Arctic and Antarctic. The new ship will replace the existing RRS James Clark Ross and RRS Ernest Shackleton, which work in the Arctic and Antarctic. Anyone can propose a suitable name on the website and other ideas in the running are RRS Usain Boat, RRS Ice Ice Baby and RRS Boatimus Prime.

RRS Shackleton, RRS Endeavour, RRS Falcon, RRS Fish ‘N’ Chips and RRS Kanye are just a few of the suggestions submitted in an open campaign to name the U.K.’s next state-of-the-art polar research vessel. But leading the vote is a name that’s even more out of the ordinary: RRS Boaty McBoatface. The U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) last week issued a call for the public to recommend names for the country’s new £200 million polar research ship. “We would like the name to be inspirational and about environmental and polar science…

When it comes to protecting the hulls of ice-going vessels, the glassflake reinforced surface treated composite (STC) Ecospeed has proven to be remarkably durable, typically outperforming many specialized ice class paints. The fact that the coating is non-toxic is also particularly important for ice trading vessels where toxic AF coatings are rapidly scraped off and deposit their toxic ingredients in what are often particularly sensitive environments. Icebreakers and ships that trade in icy waters have their own very specific problems when it comes to protecting their underwater hull.

When cruise liner Crystal Serenity sets off on its 32-day expedition voyage through the Northwest Passage from Anchorage to New York August 16, she will be escorted by the RRS Ernest Shackleton. Crystal Cruises recently secured RRS Ernest Shackleton for the voyage via a charter party agreement with Tactical Marine Solutions of Victoria, Canada and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) headquartered in Cambridge, U.K. Under the contract, RRS Ernest Shackleton, an ICE 05 classed icebreaker (exceeding the more common 1A Super class)…

When British Antarctic Survey’s RRS (Royal Research Ship) Ernest Shackleton was drydocked recently in Denmark, the superintendent, engineers and paint specialists there to check the condition of the hull paint were amazed. After two seasons of battering its way through ice up to 2.5 meters thick with a high content of gravel and volcanic lava adding to its abrasiveness, the hull coating was virtually intact and undamaged. This was in strong contrast to the Shackleton’s previous drydocking…

For as long as men have traveled and traded by water-routes, ice has been a nemesis for ships and their hulls. And with good reason since, on average, sea ice covers about 25 million square kilometers (9,652,553 square miles) of the planet—amounting to about two-and-a-half times the area of Canada. To wage ice battle, even in the earliest days of polar exploration, sailors used strengthened ships to ply icy waters. Naturally, these ships were originally wooden and based on existing designs but reinforced…

A crew of six British and Australian adventurers will re-enact Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic Antarctic small boat voyage. With only four months to go before the 'Shackleton Epic' adventure gets underway, a significant milestone has been reached with the sea trial and the expedition's naval element is eager to get going on the trip of a lifetime. The 'Shackleton Epic' has been in development since 2008 when The Honourable Alexandra Shackleton, grand-daughter of Sir Ernest, had the idea of an expedition to honour one of the greatest leadership and survival stories of all time.