Ship returns to St. John's with pieces of Titan wreckage on board
A blue ship cut through a blanket of grey fog on Wednesday morning, navigating between the steep cliffs at the entrance to St. John's harbour with precious cargo on board.
The Horizon Arctic returned to port carrying the shattered pieces of the Titan submersible, 10 days after it went missing off the coast of Newfoundland with five souls on board.
The ship was carrying the Odysseus, a remote-operated vehicle that brought the rescue mission to an end when it spotted debris on the ocean floor some 200 metres away from the hull of the Titanic.
"Our team has successfully completed off-shore operations, but is still on mission and will be in the process of demobilization from the Horizon Arctic this morning," said a spokesperson from Pelagic Research, the Boston company that owns the Odysseus ROV.
"They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones."
Investigators — some from the Transportation Safety Board — climb aboard the Horizon Arctic in St. John's on Wednesday morning. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
Minutes after the ship docked on the south side the the harbour, teams of investigators boarded the Horizon Arctic to begin their work.
Transportation safety boards from the United States and Canada, as well as the U.S. coast guard and RCMP are now probing the incident. U.S. coast guard officials told the media the first stage of their investigation will be examining the remnants of the submersible.
The Odysseus 6K ROV, seen on the right, was rushed in from Boston for the search. In the end, it was this piece of equipment that spotted the debris field and assisted in its recovery. (Mike Rossiter/CBC)
