Discovering Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance

Nico Vincent reveals what it took to pull off one of the most complex subsea projects ever undertaken.

Nico Vincent was Subsea Project Manager of the Endurance22 expedition. On 5 March 2022, using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), his team found the wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, which sank off the coast of Antarctica 107 years ago.

Could you give us an overview of the project?

The purpose of Endurance22 was to discover the wreck of Endurance and then to deliver a full survey of the wreck to allow scientific analysis. The wreck is in the Weddell Sea; there is a lot of sea ice in this area and it is quite unpredictable. The reason Endurance was so difficult to find was not because she was really lost, but because access to the area is so complicated. As the wreck is protected by the Antarctic Treaty, we were forbidden to touch anything, so we needed to produce a high‑resolution survey of the wreck to allow scientists and archaeologists to produce a scientific report.

Tell us about your role

The [Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust] asked the expedition leader to lead above the surface and me to drive all operations under the sea. However, to run the operation I was obliged to control surface support as well, including navigation, the helicopter flight plan and the ice camp. The project schedule for me started in February 2019, when the previous expedition lost its AUV on site and I was immediately contacted to build a new solution. The first step was to launch the manufacturing of the Sabertooth AUV, which is a vehicle that is able to reach 3,000m. It’s an AUV manufactured by Saab in Sweden, and the main reason why we chose that vehicle is because it’s quite versatile. Usually, this kind of vehicle is moving fully autonomous underwater, but for this project we asked to use a tethered one. This is a lesson learned from 2019, which was to keep permanent control and anticipate the need for an emergency ascent in an incident. That’s really a game changer on the ice.

For such a complex and unique project, was it important to come with an open mind, to find creative solutions and be innovative?

Absolutely. I spent a year building procedures, a scope of work, a task plan, server planning, deployment on ice, helicopter flight plans, time computing schedules. The reason why I was on board is because we were all open that nothing would run as expected. The environmental conditions on site are so complicated that you cannot anticipate all scenarios. Usually in the subsea industry the project manager stays in the office. The complexity of the variables that we faced created the obligation that I be on board.

What kind of skills did you need on team for this kind of project?

Usually in the subsea industry, all the skills or expertise are quite disconnected from each other. People have a very important task and they do not look at what others are doing. When you are doing a project like Endurance22, the opposite needs to be true. People must have very strong connections with each other. The leadership may switch from one person to another according to expertise. That means that your boss in the morning, because you are driving an AUV, can become your support in the afternoon, because you are doing electronics. That is something that allows you to build a very strong relationship between people.

What have been the highs and lows of working on Endurance22?

Highs? The discovery. Lows are a very long list [laughs]. Each dive was a stressful time. You have to keep in mind that the previous team lost another vehicle after two dives. So my goal was not only to find Endurance, but to come back with my vehicle. We had eight emergency ascents over 32 dives. But seeing the vehicle back on deck after the last dive with the full scope accomplished was an extremely good time. The team faced the worst conditions. We had ‑22°C with 35 knots of wind, which is equivalent to ‑40°C. The equipment was freezing on deck; the people were absolutely freezing on deck. They never said anything. They accomplished a huge task and I am very proud of them. Shackleton himself said: “Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”

Listen to the full interview with Nico Vincent, on the APM Podcast.