From April 7th, 2012, and for about a year, the Brazilian research vessel Mar Sem Fim (“Endless Sea”) could be seen under the freezing shallow waters of Maxwell Bay in Antarctica.
The Mar Sem Fim is owned by famed Brazilian journalist João Lara Mesquita and was manned by a crew of four researchers filming a documentary in Maxwell Bay of the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The crew ran into difficulties when the ship became stuck in the ice in Maxwell Bay of Ardley Cove, Antarctica.
As the ship began to sink, the crew was rescued by Chilean Navy. For the next months, the ship could be seen from the surface, under 9 meters (30 feet) of water.
The crew was rescued just in time; near-freezing water had been tossed over the ship, would later freeze, and then split the hull when it expanded.
A year later, the owner João Lara Mesquita returned to the site to save the ship. The vessel was surfaced using inflated buoys and was then towed back to the shore. After a year covered in seawater, Mar Sem Fim was deemed beyond repair.
