U.S. medics will conduct a formal analysis of the suspected human remains carefully recovered from the debris at the crash site, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement late Wednesday.
The Coast Guard said it received debris and evidence recovered from the seabed when the ship Horizon Artic arrived in Saint John. This debris undergoes extensive analysis and testing in the United States.
The evidence will provide investigators from multiple international jurisdictions with important information about the cause of this tragedy. Much work remains to be done to understand the factors that led to this catastrophe and to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.
The Horizon Arctic launched off Newfoundland a week ago with research equipment on board, including an underwater robot that has been detecting and recovering parts of the Titan. The wreckage of the submarine is now being returned to Saint-Jean. Patrick Butler’s report.
Debris arrives in Saint-Jean
The Horizon Arctic sailed offshore a week ago with research equipment on board, including an underwater robot that has been detecting and recovering parts of the Titan.
The Titan sub was blown to bits by the implosion.
Photo: Radio Canada
Since that discovery, several boats have remained at sea to map the crash site, recover evidence, and understand what happened thousands of meters below the sea’s surface.
With the arrival of the Horizon Arctic in Saint-Jean, the collection of evidence is complete.
This part of the Titan submersible shows the force of the implosion.
Photo: Radio Canada / PATRICK BUTLER
Investigators are on site
On the bridge we see boxes labeled “Pelagic Research”, the company that took care of the research. A dozen workers in bright orange suits are busy near the boat tending the cranes.
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) are also on site and have boarded the boat. The RCMP is also involved in the investigation.
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada boarded the Horizon Arctic in Saint-Jean on Wednesday morning.
Photo: Radio Canada / Patrick Butler
TSB investigators also boarded the Polar Prince last weekend. This is the ship that transported the submersible. The team has taken possession of the data sensor. She began conducting interviews with crew members.
The TSB is conducting this investigation because the Polar Prince is a Canadian vessel that departed from a port in Canada despite the incident occurring in international waters.
The investigation could take up to 24 months.
The research vessel Horizon Arctic docked in the port of Saint-Jean.
Photo: Radio Canada / Patrick Butler
An investigative team was formed on the part of the RCMP. They began questioning witnesses.
The work, which started on Saturday, is a preliminary investigation to determine in particular whether a formal investigation is possible.
Canada, the United States and France have conducted an extensive search to find the five passengers on the submersible that went missing near the Titanic wreck. And it’s the taxpayers who have to foot the bill. We spoke to John O’Connor, Maritime Law Attorney and Vice President of the Maritime International Committee.
The US Coast Guard is also investigating the tragedy. In a press conference last weekend, she gave no information about what has been recovered from the seabed so far. Out of respect for other authorities and the victims’ families, evidence is not released once it has been collected.
The importance of exhibits for investigation
The parts of the boat are not necessary to determine the causes of an accident, according to Captain Marc-André Poisson, who was director of marine investigations for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Part of the carcass of the Titan submersible is unloaded in the port of Saint-Jean.
Photo: Radio Canada
However, if you have them, you can determine what caused the breakpoint that was causing problems. In this case, we can conclude that the submersible failed at the task, but not the entire system. “You then have to go back in time to see what decisions were made about building the device, with what types of products and in what format,” he explains.
It makes the puzzle easier, he concludes.
Based on information provided by Patrick Butler and Héloïse Rodriguez-Qizilbash