A ship which partially sunk in the Lunenburg Harbour Monday morning was at one point destined to sail the Pacific.
The Primo, one of two former Clearwater trawlers which were docked in Lunenburg for a number of years, took on water following Sunday evening’s winter storm, partially submerging it in the harbour.
Dan Moreland, representative of the vessel and Capt. of the Picton Castle, says the ship was one of two vessels set to be converted for use in the Pacific Islands.
“In this case, it would’ve been a trading vessel for the islands,” he said.
“In the Pacific they’ve got a lot of distances, but they have small islands. So they don’t need a big ship, they need a tiny ship, but the ship still has to get there. So having an auxiliary sail made sense and it was a good plan.”
The Primo and the other trawler, the Zebroid, were both purchased for the project, however only the Zebroid was finished before the project fell through, which was renamed to the Tiare Taporo.
Meanwhile the Primo sat in the harbour for sale, with a number of interested parties coming and going.
Moreland said the ship had taken on water before, but never to the extent of Monday’s sinking. With how fast it went down, he figured something in the ship must have let go.
“We expect to find it was something ice related like something swelled and broke a pipe or something,” he said.
“Then when it thawed it let water in which is a little odd, because she’s been sitting there for a long time. But we don’t think its a little tiny pinhole, which would take days to sink. I’m guessing a valve let go.”
The Canadian Coast Guard were on scene Monday and Tuesday morning to assess the ship for environmental hazards, and plans are in the works to refloat the boat, as required.
The future of the ship however is up in the air, said Moreland, as any decisions on what will happen with it is up to the insurance company.
Moreland said dealing with the situation is new ground for him, but with help from the harbour, colleagues and friends, he’s figuring it out.
“You know, this is an old working harbour. Everyone pulls together and a lot of great people are helping out, pulling things in all the right directions. It’s a big help,” he said.
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