Expedition hunting for Shackleton’s lost ship ends up stuck in the same patch of ice

An expedition hunting for Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship ended up wedged in the same patch of ice where Endurance sank over a century ago.

The SA Agulhas II became stuck after the mercury dipped to -10C at the same spot in the Weddell Sea where Shackleton’s vessel was thought to be last seen in 1915.

But fortunately, thanks to technological advances such as mechanical cranes, engine power and a case of aviation fuel, crew members managed to free the vessel by Tuesday evening.

Historian Dan Snow, who is on board the SA Agulhas II, told The Times: ‘Clever people did say to me on the way, “How do you know you’re not going to get iced in like Shackleton?”

‘I said, “Don’t worry about that. We’ve got all the technology.’ But we are now iced in.”