Sabertooths help locate Shackleton’s Endurance

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Efforts to locate the wreckage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance have been made possible with Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles supplied by Saab.

The hybrid vehicles combine the characteristics of a Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV) – always linked to the surface – and an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) – capable of operating without a link.

Fitted with high-definition cameras and side-scan imaging capabilities, Sabertooths can search and map huge patches of the ocean floor to depths of up to 4,000m (13,123 feet) sending the data to the surface in real-time.

According to the expedition, Sabertooths can reach sites up to 100 miles away from the ship they are launched from and return with photos, video and survey data. If the sea ice conditions are difficult, it may still be possible for the expedition to survey the site of the wreck.

Nico Vincent, subsea project manager on the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust’s Endurance22 Expedition, said: “This has been the most complex subsea project ever undertaken, with several world records achieved to ensure the safe detection of Endurance.

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