Divers seek century-old river wreck

A crew of divers and documentary film producers has been combing the South Saskatchewan River looking for the remains of a steamship that sank in 1908.

The S.S. City of Medicine Hat met its fate after smashing into bridge supports in Saskatoon. All people on board were able to swim ashore. The only piece of wreckage to be salvaged was an anchor, which was pulled from the waters two years ago.

Leanne Schinkel, the co-producer of the documentary film unit, is hoping to tell a maritime story not often associated with a land-locked province.

"I think that people don't really understand when Saskatoon was originally a settlement, it was believed that the river would be a connection to the outside world," Schinkel told CBC News.

While researching the incident, Schinkel found that the Medicine Hat sinking was very worrisome at the time.

"It was looking very dark for a while when it was discovered that the river was actually quite treacherous, and navigation on it was very close to impossible."

Viktoria Cirkvencic, one of the divers on the team, says finding any piece of the ship may also prove to be a challenge.

"As soon as you go to take a scoop of sand, you lose visibility quite quickly,"she said.

Cirkvencicdescribed the search as a slow process that requires patience.

"You just have to stay focused [on] what you're trying to scoop at," she said.

The film producers and divers expected to be searching the water for one week.