Sir John Franklin’s lost ship found in Northwest Passage

Sir John Franklin disappeared in 1845

One Ocean Expeditions are delighted to announce that there has been a ‘find’ on the Victoria Strait Expedition taking place in the Northwest Passage in Canada over the last two weeks. The company’s ship, Akademik Sergey Vavilov was one of four vessels supporting the search to find the long lost vessels of Sir John Franklin missing in the Arctic for the last 160 years.

An official announcement, made by the Prime Minister’s office in Ottawa on 9 September 2014, stated that one of the two missing ships – Terror and Erebus – has been found. Currently it is unclear which of the two ships has been found, however there is photographic evidence that it is one of them.

“I was honoured to be invited to accompany the Prime Minister to his office in Ottawa for the official announcement”, says Andrew Prossin, Managing Director of One Ocean Expeditions. “It’s been a difficult Arctic season with more ice than usual, demonstrating to all of us on the Victoria Strait Expedition the conditions experienced by Franklin and his fellow polar explorers, and to end the search with photographic evidence of one of the two ships is absolutely incredible.”

Franklin search map (Canadian Geographic)

In his statement Stephen Harper, Canada’s Prime Minister says, “I am delighted to announce that this year’s Victoria Strait Expedition has solved one of Canada’s great mysteries, with the discovery of one of the two ships belonging to the Franklin Expedition.”

”Finding the first vessel will no doubt provide the momentum – or wind in our sails – necessary to locate its sister ship and find out even more about what happened to the Franklin Expedition’s crew”.

British archaeologist, William Battersby, who has written extensively about Franklin’s Expedition, describes the find as “the biggest archaeological discovery the world has seen since the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb almost 100 years ago”.

The Northwest Passage itinerary has always been a bestseller for One Ocean Expeditions. With the recent find, there will undoubtedly be an increase in consumer awareness and interest in the region.

Australian Manager for One Ocean Expeditions, Richard Cunningham added, “This is great day in Canada’s history and significant moment for our company. Our 2015 Canadian Arctic program features four voyages and several will visit the actual location where the ship was found in the Victoria Strait. Scientists and historians who were part of this year’s search team, will be aboard our ship, providing a wonderful insight into this astonishing discovery. Already our phones have been busy with enquiries from agents in Canada and around the world looking to secure berths for 2015”, he added.

For further information contact ONE OCEAN EXPEDITIONS on 02 8096 8787, 1300 368 123 or email richard@oneoceanexpeditions.com

For breaking news of the discovery, including links to a range of global news sources, visit the
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Related:
CBC: Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic