The Titan submersible's mothership returned to shore on the town of St John's on Newfoundland Island on Saturday (June 24). Rescue ships also made their return, bearing the weight of the loss of five men onboard OceanGate's submersible.
As soon as MV Polar Prince arrived - the mothership that towed the doomed underwater vehicle into the Atlantic Ocean before its “catastrophic implosion”- it was boarded at 8am ET by a team of US and Canadian federal investigators. They are now set to determine how the implosion took place.
A coastguard source told the Sunday Mirror: “None of the crew was allowed to disembark until all had been interviewed by investigators. Both US and Canadian governments are taking the death of the five men extremely seriously and want to know every detail about how they came to die.
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"Canada’s Transportation Safety Board and the US National Transportation Safety Board have both sent investigators to the Polar Prince.”
The ship's return came as criticism continued to mount about the safety of the Titan as experts and past passengers - who paid up to £195,000 a ticket - continued to question the sub’s owners and the vessel's safety. As the Polar Prince pulled into St Johns at 6.30am ET, gone from behind the former icebreaker was the barge upon which the submersible, called Titan, had sat eight days earlier when it was taken out to the wreck site.
It suffered a structural failure close to the ill-fated liner, which lies 12,500ft from the surface of the sea bed. The Titanic tourists on board died instantly, experts have said.
The men - three of whom were British - set off filled with hope and adventure to the cursed Titanic, but their loss has cast a shadow of grief over the entire community. It is understood relatives of the deceased - Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, Hamish Harding, 58, the sub’s American boss Stockton Rush, 61, and French Navy veteran Paul-Henri (PH) Nargeolet, 77 - were in St John’s when the ships arrived home.
Hours ahead of the Polar Prince's arrival into St John’s Harbour were the Canadian coastguard ships, Ann Harvey and Terry Fox and offshore vessel, Skandi Vinland. All had taken part in the mammoth search and rescue operation that involved British, American and Canadian personnel.
As the rescue ships approached the harbour one by one, a heavy silence enveloped St John's, broken only by the mournful sound of the ship's engines piercing through the night. Several locals, their faces etched with sorrow, lined the shores to pay their respects to the fallen.
John McKenna, 77, told the Sunday Mirror: “None of us wanted this outcome. We hoped beyond hope the men would all come back safe but the Titanic curse once again plague our town.”
The ships' arrivals marked the end of a valiant effort, but also served as a stark reminder of the profound loss that had unfolded beneath the unforgiving Atlantic. The grief that emanated from the returning ships was palpable, shown in the faces of the crew members who were the last to see the men alive.
