The dismantling of the MV Sun Sea is slated to begin later in September. The boat was previously docked at the same Newcastle Channel location between 2010 and 2012. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Derelict vessel

Cargo ship once filled with asylum seekers to be dismantled in Nanaimo

Sep 10, 2019 | 2:40 PM

NANAIMO — A notorious Sri Lankan cargo ship once packed with nearly 500 asylum seekers is now docked in Nanaimo where it will be destroyed.

A Canadian Border Services Agency statement to NanaimoNewsNOW said the MV Sun Sea arrived at the former Nanaimo Shipyard dock from Delta on Aug. 30 and must be dismantled by the end of the year.

Canadian Maritime Engineering (CME) project manager Jim Drummond, said the ship’s hazardous materials will be placed in bins on the ship, then hoisted to shore and trucked away.

“There’s nothing (on the MV Sun Sea) that you wouldn’t find in an old house in downtown Nanaimo. There’s asbestos, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), there’s lead.”

CME secured a $4.1 million bid in July to tear apart and recycle the vessel.

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Drummond said the process of dismantling the boat “chunk by chunk” will begin in a couple weeks.

He added safety of the environment and their workers are top priorities during the extensive project.

“Anybody can break up a ship, but we have to make sure that all of our hazardous material is contained and not a threat to enter the environment,” Drummond said at the former Nanaimo Shipyard property.

Port of Nanaimo director of communications David Mailloux said a recent meeting with CME was held to review the company’s environmental and security plan.

The 52-metre long, 770 tonne MV Sun Sea was intercepted by Canadian naval authorities and towed to Esquimalt in August, 2010.

Only one person was convicted for the human smuggling case which garnered national attention.

The MV Sun Sea marks the second high-profile vessel CME will dismantle at the same Nanaimo waterfront property.

The Vicki Lynn ll was destroyed in 2016 after the derelict vessel with thousands of litres of oil aboard was abandoned in Ladysmith Harbour.

— with files from The Canadian Press

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes