MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mensun Bound will be the speaker of Endurance 22 in Cunard cruises

Born in the Falklands, Bound was the Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at St. Peter's College, and the director of the first academic unit for underwater archaeology in England

Falkland Islander marine archaeologist, Mensun Bound, who became famous when the discovery last March of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, will be talking about the historical expedition to Cunard line passengers.

Bound will join Queen Mary 2 in Southampton for a 7-night Transatlantic Crossing on June 24, 2022, before arriving in New York on July 2. Returning in 2023, Mensun will join Queen Elizabeth for a 13-night voyage from Alaska to San Francisco, taking in some of the world's most breath-taking scenery and wildlife.

“It is a huge honor to welcome Mensun Bound on board our flagship Queen Mary 2 so soon after his historical expedition captured the world's attention,” said Matt Gleaves, Vice President, Commercial, Cunard, North America and Australasia. “I know our guests will be enthralled by his first-hand account of his Endurance 22 expedition, as well as his extraordinary, decades-spanning career.”

In his role as Trustee of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, the maritime archaeologist from Oxford was the Director of Exploration for the team of crack deep-ocean robotic technologists that, on March 5, 2022, discovered the most storied shipwreck of them all, three kilometers beneath the perennial sea ice of Antarctica.

Crushed by pack ice, the ship sank in 1915 at the heart of what Shackleton himself called 'the worst portion of the worst sea on earth.' In an exclusive talk and Q&A on board Queen Mary 2 in June, Bound will talk publicly for the first time since returning from his historical expedition. Discussing his remarkable career, Bound will reveal how they penetrated the pack to find 'the world's most unreachable wreck,' the iconic Endurance, upright and in a superb state of preservation on the mysterious abyssal plain of the Weddell Sea.

Bound, said: “It's been the most extraordinary few months with my feet yet to touch the ground since the Endurance 22 Expedition concluded. To find a vessel of such historical significance is something that is hard to truly capture in a few words. However, I am very much looking forward to joining Queen Mary 2 and sharing my excitement and experiences for the first time with Cunard's guests.”

Born in the Falkland Islands, Mensun Bound was the Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at St. Peter's College, Oxford, and the director of the first academic unit for underwater archaeology in England. Known as the 'Indiana Jones of the Deep,' Bound has conducted wreck surveys and excavations all over the world in a career that has spanned 40 years.

Cunard is a luxury British cruise line and has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic, since 1840, celebrating an incredible 182 years of operation. A pioneer in transatlantic journeys for generations, Cunard is world class.

There are currently three Cunard ships, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria and a fourth ship, Queen Anne, will be entering service in early 2024. This investment is part of the company's ambitious plans for the future of Cunard globally and will be the first time since 1999 that Cunard will have four ships in simultaneous service. Cunard is based at Carnival House in Southampton and has been owned since 1998 by Carnival Corporation & plc.