An underwater expedition conducted nearly 400 meters beneath the surface of the Labrador Sea has unveiled the initial images of Quest, the vessel that transported renowned Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton on his ultimate journey. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) dispatched a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to capture visuals of the ship, which sank near the Labrador coast in 1962.
CBC News accompanied the research ship Atlantis, obtaining exclusive access to the expedition as the first pictures displayed the rear of the exploration vessel entangled in fishing equipment. David Mearns, the co-chief scientist for the expedition and an experienced shipwreck hunter, expressed concern over the sight, noting the ship’s entanglement in old fishing gear. The discovery of the Quest wreck was made two years earlier by the RCGS using side-scan sonar technology.
The expedition, the largest ever undertaken by the society with a multi-million-dollar budget, involved a collaboration between the RCGS and the Massachusetts-based non-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This partnership utilized their vessel and submersible to explore two shipwrecks in the Labrador Sea. John Geiger, the RCGS CEO and expedition leader, personally partook in the initial dive to the wreck aboard the submersible Alvin.
Originally acquired by Shackleton for Northern Canadian exploration, Quest was redirected to Antarctica after the Canadian government withdrew support for the expedition. Shackleton’s demise occurred onboard the vessel in January 1922 near South Georgia, an isolated island southeast of the Falkland Islands. Following its use as a minesweeper during World War II, the ship was employed by a Norwegian firm for seal hunting before succumbing to sinking off Labrador’s south coast due to ice crushing its hull in 1962.
Although the ship’s name and registration number are not visible, research director Antoine Normandin confirmed the wreck’s identity as Quest through distinctive features such as particular portholes below the bridge matching historical photographs. The team aims to produce a digital representation of the wreck using 3D imaging and hopes the expedition will provide insights into the remaining ship sections, changes over time, and the potential revelations the wreck and its surrounding 300-meter debris field may offer.
