Once again, various duties kept us from posting yesterday’s blog on time – apologies. The morning was dedicated to the third deep water dive of he project and we accompanied Roberto and Marco out to site 3 with the ISIS.

Meanwhile, the much awaited (and traveled) spare part arrived on the 11am ferry thanks to the efforts of the Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanzia and the ferry captain. The part was taken to the Fortaleza where our ROV techs spent the day fitting and connecting it. By late evening, work was complete and we launched the ROV from the Fortaleza for the moment of truth. We watched the ROV enter the water with an understandable degree of apprehension but once underwater the machine performed well and passed all technical tests.

In the galley section, our cook Gejtu was preparing for an onboard dinner hosted in honour of the Carabinieri divers who have been doing a fantastic job supporting this project. Manuela and Roberto, from the Superintendence kindly prepared the first course (spaghetti with calamari) whereas fish and steaks were barbequed for the main. A group photo taken at the end of the evening is posted below.