A long lost British explorer ship has been found after it disappeared in the Arctic over 160 years ago.

The news was confirmed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper based on photographs showing that it was one of the two ships - the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror - that disappeared during that period. Harper said that it could not be ascertained which of the two ships had been located.

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The two British ships were part of an expedition led by Sir John Franklin in 1845. Aboard the vessel were 129 men who were aiming to chart the Northwest Passage. The ships' disappearance became one of the biggest mysteries of the Victorian era.

The search for Franklin’s vessels started in 2008 with a team of Canadian archaeologists and divers. This was after the Canadian government asserted its sovereignty on the Northwest Passage. Recently, numerous fishing vessels have been coming to the area after it became accessible due to ice melting in the Arctic.

Prime Minister Harper said in a statement, "I am delighted to announce that this year's Victoria Strait expedition has solved one of Canada's greatest mysteries, with the discovery of one of the two ships belonging to the Franklin Expedition."

The prime minister also added that locating the vessel would provide the team of searchers and the government the necessary momentum to be able to locate the other missing ship. Furthermore, he said finding the vessel would also lead to decoding the mystery of what really happened to Franklin’s expedition.

British archaeologist William Battersby described finding Franklin’s ship as the largest discovery the world has witnessed after Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened about a hundred years ago. Battersby also said the evidence taken from the expedition would be preserved. He also added that they hope to recover some of the remains of the crew, and possibly some photographs.

The search for the missing ships has become one of history’s largest searches. Experts believed that the ships have been locked in ice after nearing King William Island.

TagsStephen Harper, Sir John Franklin, British explorer ships, William Battersby, Northwest Passage