The 43rd annual service in tragic remembrance of the Ocean Ranger disaster was held this afternoon at the Basilica and Confederation Building.
The all-faith church service preceded a solemn wreath-laying at the Ocean Ranger memorial on Confederation Hill.
Several hundred people attended the Basilica service in person and online, while a smaller group assembled in sun and biting wind at the memorial.
The drill rig, fatefully nicknamed Ocean Danger, capsized and sank in a vicious storm off Newfoundland in the early hours of February 15th, 1982.
All 84 men aboard were lost, with only 22 of them recovered.
Wreath-laying this afternoon at the Ocean Ranger memorial outside Confederation Building. (VOCM News)
Five were former students of Gonzaga High School which has traditionally hosted the annual memorial service, and continued that tradition today.
The names of all 84 were again read aloud at the service, with a candle lit for every one.
Meanwhile, a major effort continues to return artifacts recovered from the rig to this province from the Ottawa museums where they’re currently housed.
The Ocean Ranger Legacy Foundation was formed last fall to not just repatriate the items, but also establish a formal, public display of them.
In an update on the project yesterday, the foundation said “good progress” is being made, and while there’s no timeline yet, “members have a clearer understanding of what is required to bring the artifacts home.”
