LONDON – Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’; London Stock Exchange), the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, is the primary sponsor of an exhibition opening in January at the Natural History Museum in London that sheds new light on the ill-fated Antarctic expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

Scott’s Last Expedition, which will run from 20 January until 2 September 2012, will take a new look at this landmark journey 100 years on. The exhibition will look at everyday life in the base-camp hut, examine the saga of human endurance and reveal the remarkable scientific achievements of the expedition, a story that has been largely untold until now.

As part of the 1910-1913 Terra Nova expedition, Scott led the largest team of scientists that had to date visited Antarctica. The expedition returned with thousands of zoological and geological specimens. They also collected large quantities of data that fundamentally contributed to what is now known about the continent. More than 40,000 specimens collected by Scott’s Terra Nova expedition are held in the Natural History Museum’s collections.

Elin Simonsson, the exhibition curator at the Natural History Museum who led the development of Scott’s Last Expedition, said:

“Our mission is to share this fantastic and inspiring story of Scott’s last expedition with the world and for the first time tell it from a broader perspective. One hundred years on, we want people to know that Scott’s last expedition was not just a journey to the South Pole, it was also an important scientific expedition that carried out work across many fields.”

This exhibition reunites for the first time objects used by Scott and his team together with the scientific specimens collected. Visitors can walk around a life-size representation of Scott’s base-camp hut and, as they leave the exhibition, visitors will be able to enter a cinema space and watch a series of films showing the lasting impact of the expedition.

The science carried out by Scott and his team was unique in its breadth, and the immense body of work that the expedition produced is still important and relevant for scientists researching Antarctica today.

It is fitting that Catlin is the sponsor of Scott’s Last Expedition.  Catlin was the title sponsor of the Catlin Arctic Survey, a three-year scientific project from 2009-2011 to gather data that researchers are currently using to predict how climate change and other environmental changes could impact the Arctic and the rest of the planet.

Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said:

“We at Catlin are proud to sponsor this important exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. Scientists learned much from the information gathered by the Scott expedition, just as they are now learning from the data collected through the Catlin Arctic Survey. Whilst Scott and his brave companions died nearly a century ago, there is still a lot we can learn from their exploration of Antarctica.”

Catlin’s sponsorship of Scott’s Last Expedition also includes support of climate change research carried out in the Antarctic under the auspices of the Natural History Museum’s Department of Zoology, reflecting the company’s commitment to the better understanding of ongoing changes to the Earth’s environment. Catlin’s aim is to help researchers obtain impartial scientific data so they can make more reliable conclusions about the potential impact of changes that create new risks for the insurance industry, policyholders and the Earth’s population.

Visitor information for Scott's Last Expedition

Dates and times:
20 January - 2 September 2012. 10.00-17.50 (last admission 17.15)

Exhibit admission:
Adult £9*, child and concession £5.50*, family £26*. Free admission for museum members, patrons and children under 4

Nearest tube station:
South Kensington

Website:
www.nhm.ac.uk/scott

* These prices include an optional donation to the Natural History Museum. Prices excluding the donation are adult £8, child and concession £5 and family £23.

For more information contact:

Media relations

James Burcke, Head of Communications, London

Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5710
Mobile: +44 (0)7958 767738
Email: james.burcke@catlin.com

Investor relations

William Spurgin, Head of Investor Relations, London

Tel: +44 (0)20 7458 5726
Mobile: +44 (0)7710 314365
Email: william.spurgin@catlin.com

Notes to editors

1. A high-resolution image of the exhibition’s poster, suitable for print or online reproduction, is available on request.
2. Catlin Group Limited, headquartered in Bermuda, is an international specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer writing more than 30 classes of business worldwide through six underwriting hubs. Gross premiums written in 2010 amounted to US$4.1 billion.
3. Catlin has established operating hubs in London, Bermuda, the United States, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Canada. Through these hubs, Catlin works closely with policyholders and their brokers. The hubs also provide Catlin with product and geographic diversity. Altogether, Catlin operates more than 50 offices in 20 countries.
4. Catlin's underwriting units are rated 'A' by A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's.
5. Catlin shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: CGL). More information can be found in our Investor section
6. For more information on Scott’s Last Expedition, please contact the Natural History Museum Press Office on +44 (0)20 7942 5654 or press@nhm.ac.uk.