MV Miner removal promised before May by Liberals

Nova Scotia's Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal says the province will remove a shipwreck from a protected area off Cape Breton with or without Ottawa's help.

Geoff MacLellan said the provincial government is still hoping for federal funding to help remove the MV Miner, but it plans to remove the 230-metre ship anyway before fishing season begins in mid-May.

MacLellan said federal officials have not changed their position that responsibility for the removal rests with the ship's owner.

He said he has yet to meet with federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt but hopes to early in the new year once the province has a removal plan in place with a salvager and cost estimates.

MacLellan said he will then make a case that the wreck is a navigational hazard and Ottawa should help fund its removal and implement changes to Canadian shipping laws in order to prevent similar accidents from happening.

The MV Miner became stranded in September 2011 off the coast of Scatarie Island after a line snapped in rough seas while it was being towed to a scrapyard in Turkey.