A new expedition to find the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance will set sail for Antarctica one month after the centenary of his death.

According to The Irish Times, the Endurance22 Expedition aims to find, survey and film the wreck of Endurance, which sank in the Weddell Sea during the Anglo-Irish explorer’s mission to Antarctica in 1915.

Sea ice trapped the three-masted barquentine for more than 10 months before the crew — including Kerryman Tom Crean — escaped by foot and in lifeboats.

The expedition sets out from Cape Town in South Africa on 5 February. Mission director Mensun Bound said: “We will do everything we can to survey and capture footage of Endurance and to bring the epic tale of her final voyage, and of the leadership, courage and fortitude of her crew, to people around the world.”

This past Tuesday 5 January in Connemara, a group of enthusiasts marked 100 years since Shackleton’s passing with readings, recitations and song, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

#Shackleton - A new expedition is being launched next year that will attempt to find the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance in the Antarctic.

As BBC News reports, the primary focus of the scientific mission is to study the Larsen C Ice Shelf, from which one of the biggest icebergs ever recorded split last summer.

But since the ice shelf is close to the last known position of the Endurance, which was lost in 1915, “it would be a shame not to [try to find it],” said Prof Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge who is leading the international mission.

It’s expected that ROVs for surveying the ice shelf will also be used to have a deeper look beneath the thick ice in the Weddell Sea where the Endurance is believed to lie.

BBC News has much more on the story HERE.

#Kayaking - A German woman who circumnavigated Ireland by kayak in 2016 is taking the story of her remarkable global padding adventures on tour across Europe, as the Irish Examiner reports.

Freya Hoffmeister recently returned to Ireland to give talks in Dublin and Cork on her epic solo kayaking voyage around South America, which she undertook in sections over more than 30 months between 2011 and 2015.

Before that, she paddled around Iceland in what’s regarded as the ‘K2 of sea kayaking’, and took on New Zealand’s South Island that same year.

The speaker and endurance athlete also holds a circumnavigation of Australia among her host of achievements — with her next being the mammoth undertaking of North America, which will require kayaking through the treacherous Northwest Passage.

But as lofty as these goals might seem to the average human, Freya brings things down to earth in her motivational talks, on which the Irish Examiner has more HERE.

#RStGYC - The Royal St George Yacht Club hosted a special presentation of a painting to mark the 100th anniversary of Shackleton's voyage on the James Caird from the South Shetlands to South Georgia.

Painted by Jim Sweeney from Frank Hurley's original photograph, 'Launching the James Caird from the shore of Elephant Island, 24 April 1916' recognises the centenary of the desperate 800-mile search for help across Antarctic waters by a crew that included in its number fellow Irish explorer Tom Crean.

The presentation followed a reception in March at the British Embassy to honour the crew of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1916 – also known as the Endurance expedition.

#Offshore - He's prepping to cross the Atlantic in a self-built boat the size and shape of a 60ft sperm whale.

But that's not the only remarkable thing about Irish-born, British-bred adventurer Tom McClean, who's profiled by Vice's Joe Banks regarding his storied and eccentric achievements.

McClean endured a tough childhood before joining the British Army's Parachute Regiment and later the SAS, taking him to some of the farthest flung places on earth.

He's perhaps best known for his attempt to assert Britain's claim to Rockall, camping out on the rocky outcrop in the cold North Atlantic for 40 days back in 1985.

But he was also an early pioneer of solo Atlantic crossings, setting out on his first such adventure completely unassisted – and with no offshore rowing experience – in 1969.

He's repeated that feat numerous times in different vessels. And in his latest planned effort, at the age of 73, he will do it in Moby, the self-built whale boat he's already sailed around Britain and is hoping to fit out with electric motors to pioneer zero-carbon sailing.

Vice has much more on the story HERE.

#Shackleton - When famed Irish explorers Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean set foot on the island of South Georgia in 1916, it was as remote as one could get in the world at that time.

Fast forward to 2014 and the vistas of that Southern Ocean outcrop are available to all, thanks to an intrepid hiker equipped with Google's Trekker backpack camera.

As TheJournal.ie reports, Linbald Expeditions and National Geographic sent one of their videographers with the special 360-degree camera unit to capture images for the Google Street View virtual mapping service.

And the fruits of that adventure are some 10,000 shots taken across nine locations, roughly plotting the path that Shackleton and his crew took on their pioneering Endurance voyage - and their epic journey to seek rescue when the ship was trapped in ice.

Crean and four others joined Shackleton to set out across 1,300km of open ocean from Elephant Island on the edge of the Antarctic to South Georgia, where they were the first known to traverse its hostile landscape to reach the help they needed.

Even today that land is rarely visited, with a population of just 30 or so - mostly scientists and staff of the British Antarctic Survey.

But now anyone in the world can have a glimpse of its rugged natural beauty, from the penguins of Right Whale Bay to Shackleton's final resting place.

TheJournal.ie has much more on the story HERE.

Writers, musicians and actors will be joined by relatives of Shackleton for an evening of theatre, illustrated talks, newspaper readings, poetry and song in the splendid interior surroundings of the city-centre venue (click here).

Tickets for the evening event on Monday 21 February, starting at 6.30pm, cost €10 at the door or can be purchased in advance by contacting (01) 872 2377. The event will be repeated in the Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda on Monday 28 February, at 8pm. For further details Tel: (041) 983 3946

Visitors to the Merseyside Maritime Museum have just over a fortnight to view Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure! writes Jehan Ashmore.

The exhibition which has been running since last July, tells the epic story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition and the incredible real life tale of survival. For over two years, Shackleton and his men became castaways during their Antarctic ordeal.

Also featuring in the exhibition are 150 compelling images taken by the ships photograph, Frank Hurley who saved the negatives from perishing in the icy waters.

The Endurance exhibition ends on Sunday 27 February and admission is free. For further details logon to the National Liverpool Museums website here

Last year the Dublin Port Company named a new tug, Shackleton in honour of the Athy-born, polar explorer and a sister tug was named Beaufort after the Navan-born innovator, Sir Francis Beaufort.

To read about the tugs in their starring role in an advertisement made for the National Lottery last year click this link and to see the tugs in Making Magic mode click video

To celebrate the achievements of Shackleton and Hurley's stunning photographic collection, the (MMM) want you to share your photos of spectacular scenery, unusual locations and far-flung destinations. Just add them to the Flickr group to be in a chance of a family concert ticket for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's unique combined film and music experience 'Polar'.

The cinematic portrait of the Arctic and Antarctic explores the homeland of the polar bears and humpback whales. The moving imagery will be accompanied by a live orchestral soundtrack performed by the world-renowned orchestra.

For further detailed information about the competition and entry rules logon HERE.

The Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure at the Merseyside Maritime Museum is open to the public free of charge until the 27 February 2011. For more info logon HERE