VIRGINIA, USA — Weather conditions have once again delayed recovery efforts of a car and anyone possibly inside at the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, more than three days after someone drove off the 14th Street Oceanfront attraction.
In posts made on social media, the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) twice mentioned an ROV, a remotely operated vehicle, deployed by Chesapeake firefighters.
The ROV is also commonly referred to as an underwater drone.
This weekend, Virginia Beach police officers asked Chesapeake firefighters to bring the device to the fishing pier to gain a better understanding of the crash site located 17 feet underwater.
Videos captured on Chesapeake Fire Station 4's ROV illustrate to the public the rough water conditions and visibility issues. Aside from that, the car rests on its roof and rocks with the water.
Public safety teams with boats across the region can request the Chesapeake Fire Department to deploy its ROV.
"This is currently the one that's being used the most," said Chesapeake Fire Lt. William Helms, about station 4's device.
The department secured a Port Security Grant for the ROV in 2021. A purchasing and training process followed.
Throughout the last year, Helms explained more agencies — even from as far as Urbanna and the Eastern Shore — are asking to deploy the robot. It can deploy for cases, such as underwater scans, inspections and searches for drowning victims or evidence.
The device has lights, claws, a camera and sonar, among other features.
"And then we use the controller and just drive it around like a regular drone. It goes forwards, backwards, will pivot and it'll slide side to side," said Helms.
He said the ROV can stand in the gap between what crews see from the boat and the decision to send a diver in the water.
"I can go investigate with the robot and I can provide that to the dive team. Then, they can make determination of whether or not if they want to dive on the object based on how the object is acting in the water, the obstructions that may be around that object," Helms added.
In the case from this weekend, Virginia Beach police said the ROV couldn't make out identifying tags. Multiple factors like zero visibility and rough waters come into play.
"What we found is that if the vehicle that is in the water and moving water, the vehicle will a lot of times, be moving," Helms said. "The camera has got to be but so close to the object, and if that object is moving around and bumping the robot, it just makes it difficult."
As for when salvage divers can go back into the water and pick up recovery efforts, that remains unclear and depends on the weather conditions. A sergeant with the Virginia Beach Police Department anticipated sometime later this week.
In the meantime, certain questions like who was in the car and how many, along with why the crash happened remain unanswered.