Former HMCS Protecteur arrives in Liverpool to be dismantled
R.J. MacIsaac Construction expects 30-40 jobs to come from breaking up military vessel
A decommissioned Royal Canadian Navy ship arrived in Nova Scotia for dismantling early Friday following a 56-day journey from B.C.
Former HMCS Protecteur left its home base in Esquimalt, B.C., in February. It was towed south down the coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico before crossing the Panama Canal and travelling north along the east coast.
In January, Nova Scotia's R.J. MacIsaac Construction Ltd. won a $39-million federal contract to dismantle both the Protecteur, an auxiliary oil replenishment ship, and former HMCS Algonquin, an Iroquois-class guided missile destroyer.
The Algonquin should arrive in July.
The Protecteur had a history of mechanical problems before being taken off active duty.
It suffered damage from two fires in 2014, one of which its crew fought for 11 hours. That was a year after the Department of National Defence was warned the ship's electrical system was dangerous and prone to failure.
R.J. MacIsaac says it will take two years to do the job.
With files from Rachel Ward