Bluenose II anchored by paperwork
Posted May 28, 2014 12:45:44 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says regulatory oversight scuttled today’s scheduled test drive of Bluenose II.
Kelliann Dean, deputy minister of the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, says the province received verbal regulatory approval, and was under the impression it was cleared to go ahead.
Dean says department officials found out late yesterday from the American Bureau of Shipping that Transport Canada requires a certificate in order for the vessel to leave the dock.
Transport Canada is the overall regulator.
She tells News 95-7 the certificates necessary to sail the ship are issued by surveyors who have to be on site to do that, but there was no one availabe to be in Luneburg this morning. Dean says they had verbal approval from the surveyor and up until late yesterday they thought that would be adequate.
Dean says the government will have to book an agent from the American Bureau of Shipping to come to Lunenburg and conduct an inspection before issuing the certificate.
She couldn’t say how long that would take.
The schooner has been undergoing a multi-year restoration that’s been plagued by budget overruns and repeated delays, the latest caused by a problem with the vessel’s steering system.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives are blaming “Liberal incompetence” for the last-minute cancellation, saying the latest glitch is inexcusable.
