Shackleton’s Final Ship, Quest, Found in Labrador Sea

Scientists from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution located the wreck of the Quest, the ship where explorer Ernest Shackleton died in 1922, in the Labrador Sea. Shackleton, famed for leading a crew to safety after their ship Endurance became trapped in Antarctic ice, was embarking on another Antarctic expedition when he suffered a heart attack aboard the Quest at age 47.

The Quest continued operating as a hunting vessel for 40 years before sinking in 1962, remaining lost for over six decades. Recent sonar scans identified the wreckage, and remotely operated submersibles captured the first images.

Researchers are now using underwater photogrammetry to create a 3D model of the ship, which is now a thriving marine ecosystem, to aid historical analysis. The discovery offers a new window into the life of Shackleton, often called the “real-life Odysseus,” and the legacy of early 20th-century exploration.