The ship being used for the expedition, the SA Agulhas II, is an Antarctic research ship owned and operated by the South African government. Its regular duties

The ship being used for the expedition, the SA Agulhas II, is an Antarctic research ship owned and operated by the South African government. Its regular duties are to resupply and support the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE IV) base in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, as well as the country's sub-antarctic research stations at Marion and Prince Edward Islands. While searching for the Endurance is the headline-grabbing (and undoubtedly interesting) part of this expedition, its real purpose is to study the Larsen C ice shelf and the conditions that led to the creation of the massive 5,800 Iceberg A-68 in 2017. Understanding how and why that happened will improve climate models of the Antarctic region and provide better predictions about the impact of climate change. It's a really difficult expedition though, with only a slim chance of success because of the area's conditions.