New TV Documentary on the PATRICK MORRIS
On 20 April 1970, the C N Train Ferry PATRICK MORRIS encountered heavy weather in the Cabot Strait, 10 miles off Cape Smokey, Cape Breton Island. The ferry, with no passengers on board but with a crew of 51 had departed North Sydney, Nova Scotia to go in aid of 8 crewmen on the wooden herring-seiner ENTERPRISE which was in difficulty. The ENTERPRISE later foundered with the loss of all hands and since there were no survivors the night of April 19, 1970, no one will ever know exactly what happened. The PATRICK MORRIS was one of the ships involved in the search and on April 20, 1970. At midnight the PATRICK MORRIS left North Sydney and sailed out into a Force 10 gale with the winds blowing 55 knots and mountainous waves that were cresting at 30 feet. Seven hours later, the other rescue ships all heard something else coming over the calling and distress frequency, 2182 kilocycles per second. Another “May Day” signal. Another vessel was in trouble, and this time it was the PATRICK MORRIS. While maneuvering to pick up a body; thirty-foot waves crashed through her stern door and overwhelmed her. The PATRICK MORRIS plunged to her death at 7:25 Atlantic Standard Time, 34 minutes after she transmitted her first distress signal.
Most of the 51 member crew barely escaped, but the Captain and three engine room officers went down with the ship. The Liberian vessel RHINE ORE safely rescued 47 members of the crew.
Thirty eight years after the sinking, an independent film documentary on the PATRICK MORRIS will begin production. It is the first pilot of 12 planned reality type shipwreck documentaries being developed based on the book Wreck Hunter – The Quest for Lost Shipwrecks, already in its second printing. A team of experts in the Marine Equipment and Research field, intends to relocate the PATRICK MORRIS wreck site using new sonar technology (side scan sonar) then deploy a high tech underwater robot called a Phantom Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) equipped with a powerful underwater lights and a new high definition camera to film the wreck site. The expedition will also carry out a search using the new sonar technology to try and locate the ENTERPRISE wreck site as well.
A consortium of three Halifax based companies has been formed to produce this documentary, Wreck Hunter Video Productions, Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd. and Deep Sea Equipment Ltd.
Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd. the Canadian branch of Kongsberg Maritime; an international company with a sonar manufacturing facility in Port Coquitlam BC and a Sales and Service centre in Dartmouth, NS. Kongsberg Maritime manufactures underwater cameras, sonar, positioning and navigations systems for the military, merchant vessels, offshore, oil and gas installations. Kongsberg Maritime will be supplying a new underwater high definition camera and high intensity lights.
To learn more about this type of equipment, please visit www.km.kongsberg.com
Deep Sea Equipment Ltd, a Halifax based marine equipment rental company, will be supplying a Phantom ROV. Currently there are only 4 Phantom ROV's in Eastern Canada . Only one of those is privately owned - the remaining three are owned and operated by various Government agencies in Nova Scotia ; including Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic, Defense Research & Development Canada and Environment Canada. The Deep Sea Equipment Phantom ROV is capable of diving to depths of 2000 feet and is equipped with obstacle avoidance sonar, a high definition video camera and a digital still camera.
To learn more about this type of equipment, please visit www.deepseaequipment.ca
The research team invites anyone having a connection to the PATRICK MORRIS or the ENTERPRISE to contact them to share any information they may have on either of the shipwrecks. The team may be contacted as follows: shipwrecked@ns.sympatico.ca or Tel: 902-830-7898.
