Expert who discovered Shackleton’s Endurance hosting talks onboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2

The maritime archaeologist will host an exclusive talk and Q&A on board the vessel as it makes a transatlantic crossing on June 24 from Southampton, arriving in New York July 2. It will be the first time he has spoken publicly since returning from the expedition and will discuss his career and how his team penetrated the ice to find the wreck upright and in a superb state of preservation.

Next year, Bound will deliver talks onboard Queen Mary 2 as it makes a 13-night voyage from Alaska to San Francisco. 

‘It is a huge honour to welcome Mensun Bound on board Queen Mary 2 so soon after his historical expedition captured the world’s attention,’ said Sture Myrmell, president, Carnival UK. ‘I know our guests will be enamored by his first-hand account of his Endurance 22 expedition but also his extraordinary career that has spanned decades.’ 

Endurance discovery 

As trustee of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, Bound was director of exploration for the team of deep-ocean robotic technologists who discovered Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance 3km beneath the perennial sea ice of Antarctica.   

Crushed by pack ice, the ship sank in 1915 at the heart of what Shackleton himself called ‘the worst portion of the worst sea on earth.’  

Said Bound, ‘It’s been the most extraordinary few months with my feet yet to touch the ground since the Endurance 22 Expedition concluded. 

‘To find a vessel of such historical significance is something that is hard to truly capture in a few words. However, I am very much looking forward to joining Queen Mary 2 and sharing my excitement and experiences for the first time with Cunard’s guests.’ 

Born in the Falkland Islands, Bound was the Triton Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at St Peter’s College, Oxford and the director of the first academic unit for underwater archaeology in England. He has conducted wreck surveys and excavations all over the world in a career spanning 40 years.