Sydport plans ship recycling:

Negotiations are underway to set up a ship recycling facility at the Sydport Marine Industrial Park in Cape Breton.

Marine Recycling Corp. is in talks with Laurentian Energy Corp. to capitalize on a $25-billion contract to build navy and coast guard ships in Halifax.

Wayne Elliott, founder of Marine Recycling, said the federal government has to do something with the old ships.

"We would like to build an enterprise that has some longevity to it. And with the government's plan to replace all these vessels, there could be 20 years or more work for ship recycling," he said.

Laurentian Energy CEO Denis Lanoe considers it a great opportunity for his company.

"We have the skilled labour and the willingness to expand into a new industry and develop that here. There isn't really an established ship recycling location on the east coast of Canada," he said.

Lanoe said it would mean up to 50 new jobs and spinoffs for the local economy, including the railway, which would be used to transport recycled metal to steel mills in central Canada.

Lanoe and Elliott hope the operation is running by next summer.

Source: CBC. 4 November 2011

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/11/04/ns-ship-recycling-sydport.html