Former HMCS Protecteur towed from Esquimalt, will bring jobs to Liverpool

A decommissioned Royal Canadian Navy ship is headed to Nova Scotia to be dismantled, bringing with it hope for jobs ina small town.

The former HMCS Protecteurleft its home base inEsquimalt, B.C., Wednesdayfor a journey expected to take about 55 days, depending on the weather. The ship will be towed south through the Panama Canal before heading north to Liverpool, N.S.

In January, Nova Scotia'sR.J. MacIsaac Construction Ltd. won a $39 million federal contract to dismantle both the Protecteur, anauxiliary oil replenishment ship, and the formerHMCS Algonquin, an Iroquois-class guided missile destroyer.

That contract will mean jobs for a part of the province hit by layoffs in recent years, said the mayor of Queens Municipality.

"All the buzz on the street is that people are excited," Christopher Clarkesaid Friday.

Jobs will help

The Bowater Mersey millclosure in 2012 threw around 320 employeesin the areaout of work and seriously hurt employment at related businesses nearby.

Dismantling of a ship is rather new for an area known for shipbuilding, but this "new venture" is more than welcome, Clarke said.

The company will likely hirebetween 30 and 40 people to work as welders, metal cutters "and even a cook," for employment expectedto last up to two years, he said.

"We're excited about thatbecause we've gone through some rough times in recent years," Clarke said."To have some new jobs is exciting."

Protecteurshould arrive in Liverpool around the start of April, with Algonquin joining in July, he said.

Fire damage, bad electrical

Protecteur had a history of mechanical problems before being taken off active duty.

Itsuffered damage from two fires in 2014, one of which its crew fought for 11 hours. That was a year after the Department ofNational Defence was warned the ship's electrical system was dangerous and prone to failure.

R.J.MacIsaacConstruction also cleaned up the wreckage of MV Miner last fall. No one from the company was available for an interview Friday.