For the first time, scientists have created a 3D model of a ship that sank 109 years ago

Captain Ernest Shackletonʼs ship Endurance, which sank in 1915 and is still lying on the bottom at a depth of 3 000 meters, has been designed in detail in 3D for the first time. This is part of a movie that will be shown in theaters.

The BBC writes about it.

To recreate the ship, 25 000 images taken in 2022, when it was first discovered, were scanned, when underwater robots mapped the wreckage from all angles, taking thousands of photos. They were then "stitched" together to create a digital replica of the ship 44 meters long from bow to stern. Now it can be studied in more detail — the place where it sank is remote, so scientists previously did not have constant access to it.

Now researchers are studying the scans for the tiniest details. It was already possible to see the plates that the crew used for daily meals during the expedition. Also found was the flare gun from which the shipʼs photographer Frank Gurley fired the flare as the ship sank.

Scientists say the newly created digital model of the ship will help study the marine life that inhabited the sunken ship, analyze the geology of the seabed and discover new artifacts.

What ship is it about?

Captain Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer who led the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition, the first to cross Antarctica by land.

The ship, with its crew on board, got stuck in the icebergs and drifted for several months before sinking on November 21, 1915. Captain Shackleton and the entire crew managed to evacuate and survived.

The sunken ship was found on the seabed only in 2022. At the same time, they found out that it was well preserved after more than a century under water — this was facilitated by the cold ocean water.

• The documentary "Endurance" will premiere at the London Film Festival on October 12 and will be released in UK cinemas on October 14.

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