Former HMCS Protecteur arrives in Liverpool to be dismantled

A decommissioned Royal Canadian Navy ship arrived in Nova Scotia for dismantlingearly Friday following a 56-day journeyfromB.C.

Former HMCS Protecteurleft its home base inEsquimalt, B.C., in February. It was towed south down the coasts of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico before crossing the Panama Canal and travelling north along the east coast.

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

The Algonquin should arrive in July.

The 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'selectrical system was dangerous and prone to failure.

R.J. MacIsaacsays it will take two years to do the job.