British Explorer Shackleton’s Last Ship Found Wrecked off the Coast of Labrador
The last ship that carried polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton has been found off the coast of Labrador by a team from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS).
“I heard that some Americans were interested in finding Quest, and I just had this picture in my mind of a few billionaires on yachts, up in the Labrador Sea,” John Geiger, leader of the Shackleton Quest Expedition and chief executive of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, said during the conference.
“We’ve done it the right way. It’s not about anyone’s ego, it’s about telling great stories and celebrating some of the finest human attributes,” Mr. Geiger said.
Researchers said the mast was found lying broken beside the ship, likely breaking off as the vessel went under.
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Mr. Shackleton died of a heart attack aboard the ship in 1922 during a trip to Antarctica. The Irish-born British explorer was 47 years old. He had led three British expectations to the Antarctic.
Quest was a Norwegian-built schooner-rigged steamship. Mr. Shackleton had bought it specifically to travel Canada’s Arctic, Mr. Geiger said. The plans were axed by the Canadian government, Mr. Shackleton decided to head to the Antarctic again.
The vessel appears to be in “incredible condition,” though it did suffer some damage when it hit the seabed, Mr. Geiger said.
The co-patrons of the expedition were Mr. Shackleton’s granddaughter, the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, and Traditional Chief Mi’sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation, in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ms. Shackleton said it had been her “dream” to find Quest, one that was fulfilled in the year marking the 150th anniversary of her grandfather’s birth.
Quest sank in the waters off of Mi’kmaq, Innu and Inuit territories, said Chief Joe, and he was happy that he could share local knowledge with the captain and crew of the search vessel and that First Nations company Miawpukek Horizon Marine had assisted in planning the expedition.
Quest will be documented and studied where it lays as it would be too expensive to bring it to the surface, Mr. Geiger said.
It’s expected that a team will begin recording footage of the ship with a remotely operated vehicle before the end of summer.
It’s not the first ship used by Mr. Shackleton that has been discovered underwater. The Endurance was discovered in 2022 in the Weddell Seas, about 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) under the surface, near the Antarctica Peninsula.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
