MV Miner clean up to finish by the end of April
About 70 per cent of the vessel has been removed
More than three years after it ran aground on Scatarie Island, the hulk of the MV Miner will soon be gone from the shoreline.
The bulk carrier went aground in 2011 after breaking free from a tow line while enroute to a scrapyard in Turkey.
An Antigonish company was chosen last year to remove it and clean up the area.
Nova Scotia Lands president Gary Campbell, the company overseeing the operation, says the end of the project is in sight.
It was a nightmare to wake up to all that time ago.- Sean Howard
"About 70 per cent of the vessel is actually gone now," he said. "The difficult parts of the ship are gone, there is a pile of scrap steel sitting on the shoreline over there and that will be taken away for recycling."
The wreck has been a serious concern for residents since the unwelcome visitor landed on the island.
Sean Howard is with the Main-à-Dieu Development Association and says the decision to tow the ship was a bad decision from the beginning.
"Well, it was a nightmare to wake up to all that time ago," he said. "It was horrible to watch the wreck just sit there and for the federal government to completely abandon us and tell us it wasn't any of their problem when the wreck should never have been towed in the first place."
Howard says the community is planning a big celebration when it's done.
Campbell says the MV Miner should be gone by the end of April, just in time for lobster season.