Shackleton's ship found off the Antarctic coast

"We have made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world's most challenging shipwreck search," said John Shears, leader of the expedition that located the ship on March 5, the 100-year anniversary of Shackleton's funeral.

The expedition involved more than 60 experts from a dozen countries, coordinated by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.

While the captain of Endurance, Frank Worsley, had left detailed recordings of the location of the wreck, previous attempts to find the ship had failed, mostly due to harsh conditions and ice coverage in the area.

Explorers came tantalizingly close a few years ago, but lost communication with an underwater search robot that was never recovered.

Shears and his team arrived in the Weddell Sea aboard the South African icebreaker Agulhas II, and combed the depths for two weeks using underwater drones called Sabertooths. Eventually, the team struck gold, locating Endurance around 6.5 kilometers from Worsley's coordinates.

Experts knew there was every chance the ship would be in good condition, since it sits in frigid waters and is far too deep for passing waves, ships, or icebergs to inflict damage.