MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

‘Ice Project’ will feature film on Shackleton and search for his vessel Endurance

The Endurance is reckoned to be resting in the Weddell Sea at a depth of about 3.000 metres

There are impressive plans to mark the centenary of British explorer Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Endurance expedition with a search for the wreck of the vessel on the sea floor in the Weddell Sea and a feature film based on the failed expedition, shipwreck and subsequent survival and heroic rescue the stranded men.

According to the South Georgia September newsletter, the two projects come under the heading ‘The Ice Project’. The plans were unveiled on September 26th by Bob Chartoff and Lynn Hendee of Chartoff Productions in Los Angeles, USA.

The expedition to locate the Endurance wreck site in under the responsibility of David Gallo, Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who is assembling a team of deep sea exploration and Antarctic logistics experts to determine the best technologies and techniques to locate and document Endurance’s final resting place on the Antarctic sea floor.

The ship is reckoned to have settled at a depth of about three thousand metres below the sea (600 metres shallower than the Titanic wreck) at 68°39.5S, 52°26.5W. According to the Ice Project website modern sonar and magnetic sensors should be able to identify the ship’s exact location, but the pack ice and volatile weather will present challenges.

The dive is scheduled for early 2014 during the peak of the Antarctic summer. Gallo said “Working on, through, and under the ice of the Weddell Sea, in the harsh Antarctic environment, makes planning this expedition extremely challenging and interesting from an operational point of view. We are honoured to have an opportunity to add to the story of Shackleton’s heroic adventure.”

The feature film, called simply “Ice”, is planned to be an epic action-adventure based on the Endurance expedition, including Shackleton’s remarkable rescue of his 27 men. Bob Chartoff is an industry veteran known for such iconic classics as Raging Bull, the Rocky series, and The Right Stuff.

“Ice” is planned for release in 2015 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s epic adventure. Ice author/producer is Lori Nelson. She first encountered the story when she sailed a 12-metre ketch to the Antarctic, and she describes the project as one …“that has consumed me for more than 25 years”.

The Ice Project also includes plans to raise awareness of ocean and Antarctic issues. You can find out more about the Ice Project at http://www.ice-shackletonmovie.com