MP Bernadette Jordan and former HMCS Cormorant
A long abandoned naval ship may finally be on its way out of Bridgewater after the federal government announced it will begin assessing the ship in hopes of removing it from the LaHave.
Minister Bernadette Jordan announced Monday that the Canadian Coast Guard will begin assessing The Cormorant, a former Royal Canadian Navy ship, for any potential threats of marine pollution, allowing them to plan out the ships potential removal.
“The technical assessments will determine what the next steps are,” said Jordan.
“It’s going to be everything from checking pollutants to inspecting the hull and making sure there aren’t any problems that’s going to affect our marine environment here with this ship specifically.”
The former Navy ship, which was decommissioned and sold in 1997, has been docked in Bridgewater since 2000 where it has since sat in a state of disrepair.
While the assessment doesn’t mean the ship will be going away overnight, mayor David Mitchell said he is excited progress is being made towards its removal.
“We’ve never had anything done to start the process of getting the ship moved, so any announcement to begin any kind of process is a good day for Bridgewater,” said Mitchell.
“There are a lot of problems that come with these ships, pollution is just one of them. To have this ship here means everything from depressed property values, to the risk of injury. It wasn’t that long ago that this ship was sitting at a 45 degree angle, so It has been decades of trash on our river.”
The ship had previously been assessed when it was refloated in 2015 after partially sinking, but due to the amount of time that has passed, another thorough assessment is needed before removal can be considered.
“As you can imagine with a vessel this complex, between pipe work, engine cases, etcetera, we really have to look to see if there is any remaining pollutants on board,” said Dave Yard, superintendent for environmental response Atlantic region for the Canadian Coast Guard.
“The protection of responders and the general public is the first priority for us, so we will start off with air quality tests, checking for any mould issues and those sort of things before we actually start the assessment. Once the assessment starts, we’ll start looking at quantifying if there are any pollutants on board and examining the integrity of the vessel itself.”
A timeline of the length of the assessment was not available, as it will depend on what is found within the ship, such as structural hazards or pollutants, said Yard, but they are expected to begin within the coming weeks.
As for costs, Minister Jordan said the federal government will be leading the assessment, but was unable to give any specifics on cost or where the money for the ships removal will come from at the time.
“We’ll have to wait until we see what the technical assessment says in terms of how much it will cost, what needs to be done and where it needs to go,” said Minister Jordan.
“All of those things need to be addressed before we know exactly what the costs are and where the money will come from.
“That is why this is so important, its the first step. We know there is still a lot that has to be done, but without this part of the assessment, there can’t be a removal.”
Reported by Cody McEachern
E-mail: McEachern.Cody@radioabl.ca
