B.C. companies come together to clean up derelict boats in Cowichan Bay

A handful of local businesses are sharing the cost of removing six derelict boats that posed a risk to the environment and public safety in Cowichan Bay.

“There has been a lot of talk about the problem of derelict boats, but no one seemed ready to take action,” Brian Thacker, owner of Pacific Industrial & Marine Ltd. said.

“That’s why a number of us got together and took matters into our own hands.”

The cost of taking out the old boats is estimated to be between about $40,000 to $50,000 and will be shared between Western Forest Products, Western Stevedoring, and Pacific Industrial & Marine.

WATCH: B.C. companies come together to clean up derelict boats

0:34 B.C. companies come together to clean up derelict boats

Due to the water being too shallow around two of the wrecks and not wanting to damage the estuary, Thacker said they have hired a helicopter to airlift them out Wednesday afternoon.

“The other four boats were safely towed to the Western Stevedoring terminal dock, lifted out with a crane, and will be appropriately dismantled,” Thacker said.

“Leaving the boats where they were posed a risk of fuel leaks and safe navigation, as storms and high tides can cause the boats to drift.”

Derelict boats have been a problem for all levels of government due to conflicting legal authorities to remove the boats depending on their condition, as well as, where they end up.

According to Thacker, you could be dealing with Transport, Fisheries, Environment or provincial government to look after the boat. In 2015, the MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan introduced a private member’s bill to amend the Canada Shipping Act in an attempt to streamline, simplify and make it a one-stop shop. The bill was ultimately defeated.

NDP MP Nanaimo-Ladysmith Sheila Malcolmson re-introduced the bill when she was elected and in April, introduced an enhanced bill on abandoned vessels, Bill C-352. The bill has since been endorsed by the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, the City of Parksville and Ladysmith.

WATCH: A 2104 report on Mannion Bay’s derelict boat problem

Cleanup initiatives have been taking place in Lower Mainland cities like Vancouver’s False Creek and Port Moody’s Burrard Inlet for years. In addition to a major clean, Port Moody and Vancouver both created pilot projects in partnership with the port authority which requires boaters to register with the city, stay in a designated anchorage area and pay a fee.

In late May, the federal government promised a new ‘Abandoned Boats Program‘ with $6.85 million in funding stretched over five years to study the problem and assist with the removal of high-priority vessels across Canada.

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said at the time of the announcement that “sometimes it’s very clearly a navigation hazard, and sometimes it’s an environmental hazard because quite often they sink and they have residual fuel or other contaminants left in them and at some point in the future we live with the consequences.”

According to Garneau, there are more than 600 derelict vessels across Canada.

“There are more on the West Coast than the East Coast and they vary from small pleasure craft to some fairly large-sized boats like the Farley Mowat and even larger,” he said.

In Shelburne, N.S., the rusted remains of the once-notorious MV Farley Mowat wasted away for years, despite multiple court-imposed deadlines to remove the ship. On June 25, 2015, the ship sank in its berth, forcing the Canadian Coast Guard to mount a $500,000 cleanup effort that saw the vessel refloated. More than 2,000 litres of pollutants were eventually removed from the hull.

READ MORE: Dozens of abandoned boats removed from Burrard Inlet

Garneau said the federal government will work with the provinces and some funding will be available to address the “backlog” of abandoned vessels.

The federal government’s $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan will ensure liability will remain with the owner of a boat from the moment they purchase it until it’s disposed of properly, he said.

“It’s one thing for something to sink in an act-of-God storm,” Garneau told reporters. “It’s another thing to deliberately abandon your vessel and to walk away from it and leave the mess for somebody else to clean up.

While most vessels end up sold for scrap or retired to a junkyard, some are abandoned in marinas, docked at a wharf or run aground and left to rust away at sea.

~ with files from Canadian Press, Linda Aylesworth