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UQSUQTUUQ/GJOA HAVEN - The search for Sir John Franklin's lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, will continue this summer, Parks Canada announced on June 30.

Parks Canada and its partners will search for Sir John Franklin's lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, west of King William Island, from Aug. 21 to 26. They will operate from the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier. - photo courtesy of Parks Canada

Both ships were lost during the British explorer's ill-fated exploration of the Northwest Passage in 1845. They are designated a national historic site, the only one still undiscovered.

Parks Canada and its partners will search the region west of King William Island for Franklin's lost ships starting Aug. 21 until Aug. 26, weather permitting.

"The discovery of either or both wrecks, or their contents, will offer unprecedented information on the search for the Northwest Passage, the exploration of Canada's North and the fate of Sir John Franklin," stated Parks Canada in a press release. "HMS Erebus, HMS Terror and their crew are also a testament of the history shared between Canada and Great Britain."

This is the third attempt to find the ships, as the federal agency has also looked in 2008 and 2010. The search was called off in 2009 because Parks Canada could not secure time on a coast guard or military ship. This summer, Parks Canada will operate from the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

Peter Kent, the minister responsible for Parks Canada, stated Franklin's lost ships were "two of the world's most elusive shipwrecks."

Gjoa Haven resident and historian Louie Kamookak, who has researched the Franklin expedition for more than 20 years, shared his theory with Parks Canada on where the shipwrecks might be based on Inuit stories and placenames. It's very important for the community to get involved, he said.

"Finding the ships would be a big benefit to Nunavummiut, especially here in Gjoa Haven, where employment is needed and maybe it would boost the tourism," he said.

"There's always an opposite side of people saying 'Why do we use our public funds to search for Franklin ships?' Right now, Parks Canada involves the government. I think it's a good way to find a ship. If we do find the ship, then it's everybody's finding, not just one person."

The search for HMS Erebus and HMS Terror will cost Parks Canada about $50,000 this year, stated spokesperson Natalie Fay via email .

Underwater technology will help the search team, as an autonomous underwater vehicle, supplied by the University of Victoria's Ocean Technology Laboratory, will expand the search area to a size larger than the previous two attempts combined, stated Parks Canada.

The initial expedition in 2008 surveyed a 65-kilometre long approach corridor leading from the main navigation channel to an archeological target near O'Reilly Island, west of the Adelaide peninsula. During the second expedition in 2010, about 180 square kilometres was surveyed. The first two expeditions, although unsuccessful to date in finding the ships, have narrowed the search area as an increasing area of seafloor has been systematically ruled out. So this year, the search will shift northward from the O'Reilly Island area to Victoria Strait, stated Parks Canada.

Challenges include varying accounts of the fate of Franklin's ships as well as the vastness and harsh weather conditions of the Arctic, stated Parks Canada.

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