Brian Button, the mayor of
Port aux Basques, has a picture of the Caribou and the Joseph and Clara
Smallwood in his office - the two former Marine Atlantic ferries, side by side
in dock.
It's an image from history
and from memory now, and a stark contrast to how the vessels look today -
beached off the coast of Alang, India, partially stripped, decks that once held
cars and trucks - and corridors that saw countless passengers - now exposed as
the ferries get picked clean for scrap metal.
The mayor said it was
disheartening to see the ships in that state - especially the Caribou, named
for the SS Caribou, a passenger vessel that was torpedoed and sunk by a German
submarine in 1942, killing 137 of the 252 civilian and military passengers and
crew aboard.
"The Caribou itself,
carrying that name, meant a whole lot to the community," he said.
"When they left, and when it was announced that this was going to be their
final year and their final time, a lot of people were saddened by that, to see
them go. I'm sure when they see these pictures - I know how I felt, just now
when I opened them, and I called the people in here around my office to have a
look. It is very sad to look at that, and know how good and what a service that
these ferries provided for this province."
Gerry Byrne, the Liberal
MP for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, said it was difficult to look at pictures
of the partially dismantled vessels, adding that the ships - the Caribou was
retired in November 2010, the Smallwood in March 2011 - weren't given a proper
sendoff.
"A lot of money was
spent on the commissioning and the Canadian flagging of the Blue Puttees and
the Highlanders. Out of respect to the Caribou - the Caribou was named for a
very famous coastal vessel that is pretty important in our history - there
should have been a proper decommissioning ceremony that was given," he
said. "This is pretty sad, to see two boats, the Caribou and the Smallwood
to just end up with absolutely no respect, no gratitude for the service these
vessels provided."
Byrne said the lack of
respect for the history of the vessels is shameful.
"We're a maritime
province, and it may sound a little dramatic, but ships of this nature are
important, and that's why we not only celebrate the commissioning, but we also
pay respect and tribute when they're decommissioned, and that really should
have happened here," he said. "We all accept the fact that sooner or
later these vessels did indeed have a final day, a final crossing, and one day
would have to be put out of service. The issue for each and every one of us,
myself included, is that without a decommissioning ceremony, without an
opportunity to say goodbye, to two vessels that served us extremely well, both
of which held namesakes which are important to our province ... it's pretty
poignant."
Button said there was, in
fact, a small ceremony in Port aux Basques when the ferries made their last run
out of the town's port, but he said more probably could have been done.
"There might have
been a week of activities happening around them," he said. "These two
ships were built in Canada. Unlike the vessels that we have now, they were done
right here, at home in Canada. They were part of this run, and very good,
seaworthy boats. They were our link for many years."
Jarrod David, a shipwatcher
from Nova Scotia who has been keeping track of the ferries since they left
Newfoundland, said it's a shame to see the ferries in that state.
"It's just sad to see
them gone, indeed, for sure. I think from following this, there's a lot of good
ships ending up on the beaches in Alang, and in Turkey, that still have good
years left on them, but with the price of steel the way it is, from what I'm
hearing, that's what's happening. Not just Marine Atlantic, but with a lot of
shipping companies."
In November, when pictures
emerged of the ferries beached near Alang, concerns were raised about whether
recycling of the vessels would be done in accordance with environmental
guidelines. At the time, a Marine Atlantic spokeswoman said a condition of sale
included a commitment that if the buyer decided to recycle the vessel, it would
be done in a yard with full green recycling facilities in compliance with
International Maritime Organization guidelines.
David said it's hard to
tell if the dismantling is being done responsibly - but the stripping is being
done quickly.
"There's so many
ships that go ashore there in Alang, and they cut them so well. They're good at
what they do. Whether it's environmental or not, it's hard to tell from the
pictures," he said. "You really can't tell what their practices are.
I see a lot of ships up there on the beach."
He added he's heard mixed
reviews on the replacement ferries.
"There's varying
opinions on them," he said. "I've sailed on them a couple of times; I
have no problems with them. I think they're great, comfortwise, and the staff
is pretty good, too."
Byrne scoffed at Marine
Atlantic's assertion that there was an agreement in place that recycling of the
vessels was supposed to be done in compliance with International Maritime Organization
guidelines.
"They say there was
an agreement, but when there's nothing there to enforce the agreement, it's not
an agreement," he said.
Nova Scotia MP Megan
Leslie, the federal NDP's environmental critic, said Alang has a reputation for
environmentally unsound shipbreaking, because it's done on a beach instead of
in a dry dock, where spills could be contained.
"If we look at the
history in Alang, they are renowned for terrible child labour practices, and
also non-existent environmental standards," she said. "So we have
known this would happen. Seeing the pictures is pretty shocking, but at the
same time, that's what we would have expected."
Leslie said the recycling
could have been done in Canada.
"I think we just
shipped a bunch of jobs off to India. We have incredible shipbuilding
facilities in Canada, there's no reason that we couldn't also do the
shipbreaking," she said. "It's infuriating to know that Marine
Atlantic thought this might happen. Thought it might happen, put it in the sale
agreement that the ships would be broken down in green recycling facilities -
so went that far, to put it in the agreement for purchase - but then sold it
anyway, figuring, 'Well, this is probably going to happen,' then throwing up
their hands and saying, 'Well, there's nothing we can do about it.'"
In November, Marine
Atlantic said it was reviewing the purchase to see if the terms of sale had
been breached. This week, Marine Atlantic declined a request for an interview,
but spokeswoman Tara Laing issued a written statement to the Telegram late
Friday afternoon.
"The MV Caribou was
sold to Comrie Ltd., of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines," reads the
statement. "The MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood was sold to Merrion Navigation
S.A. of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The new owners took possession of
the vessels and departed from the North Sydney area in September 2011. It is
our understanding that the vessels were then resold. Marine Atlantic has
completed its internal review and no further action is planned at this
time."
Source: The Telegram. By Daniel MacEachern (dmaceachern@thetelegram.com). 17
March 2012.
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