Shipwreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s last journey to the Antarctic discovered

ITV News correspondent Sam Holder reports on the discovery of the ship

The ship that Sir Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage on has been found off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.

Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack on board the ship, called the Quest, on January 5 1922 while trying to reach the Antarctic from England.

The explorer, who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, was only 47 years old.

The ship was acquired by a Norwegian company after he died and was involved in a series of expeditions.

During an expedition on May 5, 1962, the ship was damaged by ice and sank. The crew, however, survived.

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), said on Wednesday that the schooner-rigged vessel was found “intact” lying at a depth of 390 metres (1,280ft). Sonar equipment was used to find the shipwreck which coincides in the 150th year after Shackleton’s birth. Expedition leader John Geiger, of the RCGS, said: “Finding Quest is one of the final chapters in the extraordinary story of Sir Ernest Shackleton." Martin Brooks, of British expedition and apparel company Shackleton, said: “The finding of Quest is an important new chapter in the story of Ernest Shackleton and polar history; an iconic vessel, she marked the end of the heroic age of polar exploration. It is an honour to have supported this historic discovery.” In 2022, a British-led expedition located Shackleton's once-lost ship Endurance, which in 1915 became stuck in pack ice and sank in the Weddell Sea.

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