The final stages of Work Period 2 around the Antarctic Peninsula proved an eventful few weeks for ice patrol ship HMS Endurance.

The Red Plum put a Geo Science team ashore at James Ross Island, then spent almost two weeks carefully transiting through ice and stunning scenery on the narrow passages and icebound waterways that lie off the south-west coast of the Peninsula.

All the while, she provided daily support to a Bio Science team in the South Sandwich Islands, there were 12 base visits under the Antarctic Treaty on behalf of the Foreign Office, and there were other miscellaneous survey tasks.

This led the 6,500-ton ship to the British Antarctic Survey base at Rothera, well inside the Antarctic Circle, which is the hub of BAS science in the region.

The base has around 120 BAS staff, with accommodation, research facilities and a large runway maintained all year round, allowing a regular link with the Falklands via a twin-engined Otter aircraft.

Endurance remained alongside at Rothera long enough for members of the ship’s company to stretch their legs in the biannual Endurance Winter Olympics.

The patrol ship’s clubswinger, LPTI Tate, organised the event on the snow and ice slopes adjacent to the base runway, which provioded a 20 degree slop a quarter of a mile long for downhill, telemark and slalom skiing – with equipment provided by the base – a home-made luge, and a snow-sculpting competition.

The latter was won by the Supply department, who created a statue depicting two people which they entitled Spoons – surprisingly there was no cutlery involved.

Many had their first taste of snowboarding, and the Royal Marines from Endurance were in their element on skis.

The afternoon’s sport was assisted by BAS staff and their snowmobiles, which did sterling service dragging competitors up the slope for each event. The ship hosted a barbecue that evening as a thank-you to the BAS team.

The ship then embarked on a survey in Marguerite Bay, a largely uncharted area 25 miles to the south east of Rothera, while also supporting a GHeo Science team at nearby Horseshoe Island, Pour Quoi Pas Island and Calamette Point.

There was also support to be provided for a historical base preservation team on Stonnington and further Base inspection visits.

The survey area in Marguerite Bay was split into two parts. The southern section was suspected of being too shallow for Endurance, so that section was given over to the ship’s survey motor boats.

The northern part had given soundings which indicated it would be more suitable for the ship herself – but it also contained an uncharted rock pinnacle six miles off the coast on which the ice patrol ship grounded in the late afternoon on January 18.

The weather was perfect, with no wind, a sea state of 1 and less thgan ten per cent ice in the area.

The ship has subsequently completed a detailed investigation, which revealed that the seabed shoaled without warning and incredibly steeply from more than 40 metres to 6.4 metres in eight seconds.

As ever, when working in uncharted waters, the ship was running gradually from surveyed areas into the sections to be surveyed in lines running parallel to the coast. The ship was moving at barely above walking pace, with a safety level set at 40 metres – once that depth has been encountered (around five times the draught of the ship) the surveying stops and alternative methods are employed.

The shallowest shoals in the area had been reported at 37 metres, and depths earlier the same day had been beteween 50 metres and 300 metres.

But even with the engines full astern when the 40 metre mark was encountered, eight seconds was not enough, Endurance grounded, staying there for just over an hour while her ship’s company went through emergency stations, carrying out a thorough search of the interior of the hull.

On establishing there ws no breach, the ship’s divers went over the side to determine how the ship was sitting on the rock, while tons of water was jettisoned and other fluids transferred to affect the trim.

At 1740 local time Endurance eased astern off the rock and returned to Rothera for further examinations, which indicated that the box section keel at the bow and port forward side had been affected but that it did not prevent the ship from continuing safely with its programme.

The plan is that the ship will undergo repairs during her normal maintenance period over the summer when she returns to Portsmouth.

Once the hull had been given the all-clear, the ship went back into Marguerite Bay, and surveyed the area around the pinnacle using the survey motor boat Nimrod. That produced a dramtic picture of a sea mount with two small but severe pinnacles in close proximity – one of which the ship encountered.

The least depth overt them is 6.2 metres, and while the whole mount shoals gently to the south, it drops like a precipice to the north – the direction from which Endurance originally approached.

With the increasing number of tourist ships visiting the region, it reinforces the importance of such survey work in preventing serious incidents and possible loss of life at sea.

On completion of the survey Endurance sailed to James Ross Island to recover the Geo Science team, encountering the first rough seas in some weeks as they ventured out of sheltered waters to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The approach to James Ross is through the Antarctic Sound, a beautiful stretch of water teeming with wildlife – the ship was joined by hundreds of penguins porpoising along, as well as humpback whales and countless seabirds.

Thick fog and numerous icebergs meant a slow passage, and the ship had just reached a point to the north of James Ross Island when they were alerted by a distress call from two British helicopter pilots who had ditched into the sea around 180 miles away, just west of the South Sandwich Islands.

Endurance turned and launched her two Lynx helicopters to rescue the men via the Chilean base of Marsh, and although one was forced back with an engineering problem, the other flew on to the stricken pilots.

In the event, a Chilean icebreaker managed to reach the Britons, allowing Endurance to return to her original programme, although with a limited window of opportunity work went on to recover equipment until 11pm and resumed at 3am, allowing the ship to head north on schedule. Endurance picked up the helicopter men on the way, as the Chileans had no ships sailing north for some time.

As the long work period drew to its conclusion, the ship went on passage towards Buenos Aires, allowing the ship’s company time to hold a penguin racing night to raise money for the ship’s charity.

There was plenty of minor wagering at the event, organised by the Senior Rates, and the wooden cut-out penguins, moved around a course on the shake of a dice, provided plenty of excitement.

The visit to Buenos Aires allows Endurance to further navy-to-navy affiliations, and the emphasis this year was to be on the hydrographic survey specialism.