The bracing sea air that once carried prayers of hopefulness now hangs heavy with sorrow and grief as the news hits home.
When the confirmation of the five Titanic tourists’ deaths permeated throughout this colourful coastal city, it delivered a gut-wrenching blow to St John’s.
The small slivers of hope, which had remained after the five men’s oxygen supplies ran out, quickly dissipated, brutally exchanged for the reality we all refused to accept.
This small Newfoundland city, a harbour in the tempest for mariners, has always weathered storms and held on to resilience. But the mood has shifted here from misgiving to one of mourning.
The bustling streets, usually filled with the constant hum of a busy shoreside town, now ring with a deafening silence.
Hopeful smiles have made way for the solemnity of grief.
Like the rest of the world, no one here wanted this outcome.
But while normality will resume quickly for others, there is a foreboding sense that, at least for some time, the very essence of St John’s will be transformed as it becomes a focal point for those, especially the families, who mourn the men’s loss.
The world’s eyes looked on in hope as its collective spirit lifted the town, making locals here believe miracles do happen.
But as the days stretched on, the weight of uncertainty became suffocating.
The wilds of the Atlantic Ocean, which rages a few hundred yards away from the safety of the harbour walls, now taunt people here with the claiming of yet more lives.
The five men will not be the last, but how they were taken will forever be etched in the minds of locals here. And now the very essence of this maritime town feels tainted.
News of the discovered debris from the submersible being found near the resting place of the Titanic cut through the air like a chill wind. It cast a sombre shadow on people’s already burdened hearts, a stark reminder of the treacherous mission the men had embarked on so willingly.
The discovery, and official confirmation of what it meant, extinguished any flames of hope which had sustained locals in these trying times.
In the harbour, a solemn stillness now hangs in the air.
The boats, symbols for centuries of adventure and exploration, sit idle, their decks empty, and their flags limp with sorrow.
No one could have known as the five Titanic tourists were waved off from Pier 12 that it would become their final farewell.
