PROJECT OVERVIEW

Endurance

Learn more about the ENDURANCE 22 Expedition and how the Voyis underwater laser scanner and imaging system worked for the full 3D reconstructions of this famous shipwreck

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Client

Ocean Infinity, SEARCH, Deep Ocean Search, and Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

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Location

Weddell Sea, off the coast of Cape Town

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Product

Insight Pro Underwater Laser Scanner & Observer Pro Imaging System

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Industry

Ocean Sciences

DETAILS & ARTIFACTS

A Piece of History

All photos are provided courtesy of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic, captured during the ENDURANCE22 Expedition, as featured in the documentary Endurance

The Boot

A 2022 sub–sea photograph shows a boot on the remains of the ship that lie at the ocean floor. This boot was once worn by Frank Wild, Shackleton’s second–in–command. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

Frank Wild, Shackleton’s second–in–command, plays with one of the dogs, Sue, in the dog pen on the Endurance. Credit: RGS/Frank Hurley

The Ladder

This 2022 sub–sea photograph of the ladder that Shackleton’s crew used over a century ago, before the Endurance was crushed by ice in 1915. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The ITAE crewmembers pose on the ladder, with a few of the dogs, for a photograph inthe process of evacuating the Endurance. Credit: RGS/Frank Hurley

The Floor

A 2022 sub–sea photograph shows the linoleum floor that once existed on the Endurance during Shackleton’s 1914 expedition, before the ship was crushed by ice and sank to the ocean floor. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

ITAE crew members (left to right): James Wordie, Alfred Cheetham and Alexander Macklin clean the linoleum floor of the galley on the Endurance. Credit: RGS/Frank Hurley

The Plates

This 2022 subsea photograph shows the plates and other dishware used by Shackleton’s crew before the Endurance sank in 1915. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The ITAE crew members sit down for a Midwinter feast on the Endurance, five months after the ship became stuck in ice and four months before the crew was forced to evacuate. They had a special dinner that day consisting of roast pork, stewed apples,preserved peas and a plum pudding. Credit: RGS/Frank Hurley

DELIVERABLE

3D Model

An highly detailed 3D model of the Endurance, generated with the Voyis Insight Underwater Laser Scanner and Observer Imaging System, with the help of many esteemed partners from Deep Ocean Search.

After more than a century submerged in the frigid waters of Antarctica, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, has been revealed in stunning 3D detail. For the first time, we can view the vessel, which sank in 1915 and rests 3,000 meters deep at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, as if the surrounding murky waters had been drained away.

This digital scan, created from 25,000 high-resolution images, was captured when the ship was rediscovered in 2022. It has been released in conjunction with a new documentary, Endurance, set to premiere in cinemas. The 3D scan was produced using underwater robots that mapped the wreck from every angle, capturing thousands of photographs that were later “stitched” together to form a digital replica

While traditional footage at this depth can only capture sections of Endurance shrouded in darkness, the scan presents a full view of the 44-meter wooden wreck, from bow to stern, even detailing the grooves left in the sediment as the ship came to rest on the seafloor. The model reveals how the ship was crushed by ice—its masts have fallen, and parts of the deck are in disrepair—yet much of the structure remains intact. Shackleton’s descendants have stated that Endurance will never be raised, and its remote location makes revisiting the wreck incredibly difficult.

This incredible accomplishment was made possible with the support of The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, Endurance22 Director of Exploration Mensun Bound, and Nicolas Vincent and his team at Deep Ocean Search.

VEHICLE & SENSORS

Subsea Technology

Using the Insight Pro laser scanner the survey team was able to accurately map the Endurance. Our system broadcasted the ultra-dense point cloud model in real-time to the crew, digitally building up the shipwreck as they “fly” over the wreck with the Sabertooth vehicle.

Complementing the Insight Pro system on this expedition is the Observer Pro imaging system, a long range, highly sensitive digital stills camera, and two extremely high output Nova LED panels to deliver crisp, evenly illuminated stills images.

The Observer Pro imaging system works seamlessly with the Insight Pro laser scanner, providing gapless laser data with interlaced stills. Additionally, images taken by the Observer system are automatically colour corrected using Voyis’ machine learning “True-Colour” correction, an onboard improvement that replicates the exact colour of the shipwreck if it were brought ashore, along with additional undistortion and light leveling algorithms to improve the image quality in real-time. Therefore, it will be possible to create photomosaics and photogrammetric models of the Endurance, to further compliment the highly accurate 3D point cloud model generated by the Insight Pro.

STILLS IMAGES & LASER DATA

Gallery

A selection of high-resolution images that allow us to image what the Endurance was like before the crew was forced to evacuate. All photos are provided courtesy of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic, captured during the ENDURANCE22 Expedition, as featured in the documentary Endurance