Interviews are being done by investigators in St. John’s
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it will look into how the Titan submersible was used by the Polar Prince support ship near the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland.
In a news release sent out just after 4 p.m. NT on Friday, the TSB said the investigation is “in accordance with the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act and international agreements.”
The TSB, which is in charge of investigating Canadian ships, said it would do “a safety investigation into the circumstances of this operation by the Canadian-flagged vessel Polar Prince.”
A group of TSB investigators has arrived in St. John’s to gather information, talk to people, and figure out what happened that killed all five crew members on the Titan.
“In the coming days, we will work with other agencies to coordinate our efforts,” the TSB said in a press release. “At the moment, this is all the information we have. As the investigation goes on, we’ll let you know what’s going on.”
Heading hom
All of the Canadian rescue ships that were looking for the lost submersible Titan and its five crew members have now gone back to base. They realized on Thursday that the sub and its crew were lost.
A statement from the Joint Rescue Command Centre says that it’s now time for those four Canadian ships to “rebuild search and rescue capability and prepare for future search and rescue events.”
The Polar Prince, a ship from Newfoundland that had to pull the Titan submersible out to sea last weekend, is also going home after a scary week of searching around where the Titanic sank.
It was also carrying family members of some of the five crew members who went missing.
The Miawpukek First Nation set up the company Miawpukek Horizon, which owns most of the ship.
Miawpukek Chief Mi’sel Joe said on Friday, “It’s going to be hard on the Polar Prince crew.””They are taking care of the ship, taking care of themselves, and taking care of the family that is on board. I feel sorry for them. To everyone. It’s always hard on family when someone dies.”
The US Coast Guard thinks that the Titan’s debris field was found about 200 meters from the Titanic. It is thought that the submersible broke apart as it went down because of the pressure of the water, killing all five men instantly.
“How much Canadian help with recovery and salvage is being talked about right now,” says the JRCC statement.
For the Mi’kmaq chief, the pain is personal
Joe gets it more than most people. He lost his son, who was eight years old, when he drowned 53 years ago. This week, Joe went to St. John’s to be close to the search. When he was there, he couldn’t help but feel the pain of his own loss, which happened many years ago.
“I felt sad,” she said. “Heartbreaking sadness for the family who was out there and for the family who was waiting for them to come home,” he said.”I know exactly how that feels.”
Joe was supposed to go on an expedition on the Titan before, but he had to back out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He told CBC News that he wasn’t sure if he could have lasted eight hours in the small, seven-meter submersible, where the crew couldn’t even stand up.
“Now that I’ve thought about it, I’m glad I didn’t do it,” he said.
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