AP / Ed Cassano / Pelagic Research Services Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday.

There is a strong Mahoning Valley connection to the recovery effort near the Titanic shipwreck.

Eric Peterson, a Bristolville native who now lives in Clearwater, Florida, is one of the people involved with controlling the underwater remotely operated vehicles that found the remains of the Titan, family members said. Titan went missing while looking for the Titanic wreckage.

Gary Peterson Sr., who grew up in Bloomfield and Bristol and lives in Chiefland, Florida, said he and his wife, Sue, are proud of what their son, Eric, has been able to do with his career — including being involved in this international news event.

“We have been in contact with him, but he said he is not allowed to say much,” Gary Peterson said.

EXPLORERS

Five explorers died in what the U.S. Coast Guard termed a catastrophic implosion.

Parts of the submersible were found about a week ago, some 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreck.

Those aboard were Stockton Rush, 61, CEO of OceanGate; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19; British businessman Hamish Harding, 58; and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, a former French Navy diver.

Eric, 46, an engineer with an electronics background, was one of the crew controlling the ROV as it was sent down into the Atlantic Ocean in the debris field.

The ROV was used during the recovery efforts that brought up the equipment from the ocean floor.

“He was the one who was on the ship at the controls for the ROV as it was sent down,” Gary said.

Gary said Eric, and his other son, Gary Jr., constructed the ROV that was used.

“We knew what his job was. He has done this before and is very skilled at what he does. He is on the ship controlling the ROV as it is used underwater,” he said — noting his son has been involved with other deep ocean research trips.

Gary said his son attended The Ohio State University and is self-taught in a lot of what he does.

He said his son was coming back to St. Johns, Florida, because, as he understood, the work Eric needed to do was finished.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

“We watched the news on this all the time. It was international news, and we knew our son was involved with this,” Gary said.

The ROV discovered a debris field last week approximately 1,600 feet off the bow of the Titanic.

The ROV, deployed to the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic, discovered the tail section of the 21-foot submersible, Titan, that went missing.

Experts from within the unified command are evaluating the imagery and debris.

Roger Peterson of Bloomfield, a cousin of Eric, said in an email he has been following on social media what his cousin has been doing.

He said he has seen photos on social media of Eric operating one of his ROVs.

“It was a Bristolville, Ohio, man who was piloting the ROV that found the debris,” Roger said.

Underwater remotely operated vehicles are submersible, robotic systems used to observe the depths of large bodies of water by operators from shore, or by divers in the water.

Sue Peterson said Friday that she and Gary watched a news conference on the Prelagic Research Services social media site that was held in Buffalo, New York, which included Eric and others speaking on what took place.

“We watched the press conference and saw him speak for a little bit. He spoke for a short time near the end of the press conference. I saw that he had a bandage on his one hand. He had smashed his one finger on the ship,” she said.

During the news conference, Eric said he was among those who built the ROV and were able to see many of the pictures.

He said a team of experienced people were an integral part of the entire process, described as “a very complex operation.”

The Odysseus 6K was the name of the remotely operated vehicle that had been searching the ocean floor for wreckage of the Titanic.

KEEPING MUM

Gary said Eric and the other crew were advised by a lawyer not to speak about what took place and what was involved, due to possible lawsuits.

A statement posted online from Jeff Mahoney, director of international and media relations for Prelagic Research Services, states: “Our team has successfully completed off-shore operations, but is still on mission and will be in the process of demobilization from the Horizon Arctic … They have been working around the clock, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones.

“Due to confidentiality and duty of non-disclosure, no member of the Pelagic Research Services team can comment on, nor provide any information related to, the ongoing Titan investigation.”