Michal Krzysztofowicz Photography

RRS Ernest Shackleton in Cape Town

Halley Station, being so far south and so remote, relies heavily on RRS Ernest Shackleton for supplies. Each year there are typically two ship calls: at the start and at the end of the season.

Escorted out by the pilot boat

RRS Ernest Shackleton departing Cape Town. To the port side, a pilot boat follows, providing assistance.

Good bye real world.

Life is simple from now on. The blue and white ship in the centre of the frame is the German polar ship, Polarstern.

Heading into sunset

A couple of days into the cruise, it has become noticeably cooler and the weather started picking up.

Blue Petrel

A few days into our journey, we were accompanied by a number of sea birds - petrels and albatrosses of all kinds.

A pair of Sooty Albatrosses

These birds measure about 85cm in length and have a wingspan of up to 2m. They nest on various islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean.

Chinstrap penguins on an ice floe

Snow Petrel

Ernest Shackleton Bridge

In late afternoon, deck officers discuss their tactics for getting through the first sea ice. The depth below the Shackleton's keel is over 4400m. To the right of the image, the bright screen shows a daily updated sea ice cover map, and the main console in the middle features two radar screens and a ships propultion monitoring screen

Navigating through sea ice in darkness

The extent of sea ice this summer season is again larger than usual. The first ice floes were encountered just north of the average August sea ice extent line.

Navigating through sea ice in darkness

Under a watchful eye of the Chief Officer, the RRS Ernest Shackleton is making its way South towards Antarctica. Ice floes can be seen forward of the ship, and the ice coverage is increasing.

Chinstrap Penguins

Three Chinstrap Penguins make a run away from the RRS Ernest Shackleton as it's passing through the waters of the Southern Ocean.

A quiet sunset

It was an incredibly quiet and peaceful evening, with next to no wind. The only disturbance to the peace was caused by the RRS Ernest Shackleton, making a steady progress on its journey South to deliver the cargo and personnel to the Halley Station.