The cruise line will be working with explorers Rebecca Stephens MBE and Michael Palin CBE on the expeditions and with talks and events at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
In November 1915, Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, could no longer navigate the frozen waters of Antarctica. The expedition team were then faced with the daunting task of surviving the unforgiving climate while waiting for the ice to break up again - how Shackleton led the men of the Weddell Sea Party over ice and ocean to safety is seen as one of the greatest survival tales in human history.
To mark the centenary, Silver Explorer will host the first in a series of Silversea Expedition voyages to depart Ushuaia, Argentina to retrace Shackleton’s journey to Antarctica.
Onboard the voyage will be explorer and journalist Rebecca Stephens MBE, who was the first British woman to climb Everest and the Seven Summits. As part of the enrichment programme, she will provide an insight into her experiences of trekking in some of the most remote regions on the planet.
She said: “Celebrating this unique centennial anniversary with Silversea Expeditions and the Royal Geographical Society is an opportunity to rediscover and bring to life this unique moment in history.”
Silversea will also host a unique Shackleton experience at the RGS headquarters in London in November with Michael Palin CBE as guest of honour.
The evening will also mark the opening of The Enduring Eye: the Antarctic Legacy of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Frank Hurley, a major exhibition to be held at the RGS from the end of November to the end of February 2016.
Guests booking on to Antarctica 18-day voyages in November 2015, and January, February or December 2016 will be able to hear from historians onboard Explorer and visit areas of the Antarctic including Elephant Island, South Shetland Islands where Shackleton and his crew were stranded for 105 days.
The voyages will call at South Georgia, where Shackleton and five of his crew first touched land after crossing 878 miles of ocean and passengers will also be able to visit Shackleton’s burial site in Grytviken.
There will also be an exclusive exhibition curated by RGS onboard Silver Explorer, including a gallery of images by The Endurance’s official photographer Frank Hurley, who documented the expedition.
