Aberdeenshire brothers behind Antarctica mission

Model ships built by two young Aberdeenshire brothers have embarked on a mission to circumnavigate Antarctica.

Ollie and Harry Ferguson from Turriff, Aberdeenshire, have built one-metre long replicas of two ships from the Ross expedition of 1839-43.

The HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror discovered the Ross Ice Shelf during the nearly 200-year-old expedition.

The replica vessels will follow the circumpolar current around Antarctica's coastline, a journey of more than 12,500 miles which could take up to two years.

The process of building and transporting the model ships to the Southern Ocean has itself taken two years.

Tracking Climate Change

During the journey, the boats will transmit back scientific data including air temperature, ocean temperature and ocean pH which can be markers of climate change.

Harry, 11, said “We’re interested to collect data about climate change and also just trying to see what happens to the boats and the end result and – though there is a very low chance – to see if we will ever see them again.”

Ollie, 13, said “It’s amazing because it’s taken over two years and the scientific data that could be collected as markers of climate change is going to be amazing, hopefully.”

Anyone wanting to see where the boats are, and find out more about the project, can do so at https://www.icoteq.com/project-erebus/