EDT Offshore PSV to help recover military helicopter lost in fatal crash in Ionian Sea

A vessel operated by Cyprus-based EDT Offshore has set sail for the waters between Greece and Italy to attempt to retrieve the wreckage of a Canadian military helicopter that had crashed in the Ionian Sea in a fatal accident late last month.

The Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) confirmed that the platform supply vessel (PSV) EDT Hercules and its embarked recovery team will comb an area 22 nautical miles east of Catania, Italy, to locate a Royal Canadian Navy CH-148 Cyclone utility helicopter that had crashed into the sea on April 29, killing all six people who were on board.

The helicopter, which had been assigned to the frigate HMCS Fredericton, was lost while participating in a training exercise. Of the six fatalities, only two have so far been recovered.

The embarked recovery team on EDT Hercules consists of Canadian and American military personnel. Among the team’s equipment is a US Navy-owned remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that will be used to scan the seabed to pinpoint the aircraft’s exact position.

DND officials said that underwater currents and the composition of the seabed may have caused the wreck to shift from its earlier identified position 3,000 metres below the surface, thus necessitating the use of the ROV.

The officials added that, due to the weather and sea conditions at the crash site, the timeline for the recovery effort could not yet be estimated.