Creating jobs by dismantling decommissioned ships

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(Ken Isles, engineer meets Victor Armes former engineer meet inside the HMCS Sackville.)

(Ken Isles speaks.)

Ken Isles, yes.

(Victor Armes replies.)

Victor Armes. Nice to meet you.

So I understand you were the very first engineer on the HMCS Iroquois.

(Ken Isles replies.)

Yes, I was involved with the laying of the keel and the building of it and doing the send to work of the Iroquois.

(Victor Armes replies.)

Well, sadly I am the very last engineer of the HMCS Iroquois. So it’s quite an honour to meet you.

(Old photograph of Ken Isles participating in a ship launching ceremony appears.)

I guess what we could say is that I was at the birthing of it, and you’re at the burial of it.

(Ken Isles replies chuckling, video shows the HMCS Iroquois in the harbour.)

Ya, …ha ha, …that’s the way to put it!

(Ken Isles continues speaking as the video shows the HMCS Iroquois in the harbour.)

I was her midwife.

(Victor Armes replies and the video shows the exterior of the HMCS Iroquois up close.)

And I’m the undertaker ya, …ha ha!

Well she tows out tomorrow to be disposed of, …but I got to sail on it actually in 2011-2012. I was the assistant engineering officer of the Iroquois, so I did my training on that vessel. Unfortunately, I never sailed on it as the actual engineer, …but I have been put in charge of the care and custody crew now. But it is very nice to meet you, and I think we probably share very similar experiences having sailed on that ship.

(Ken Isles replies.)

Oh, we could tell some tales.

(Victor Armes replies.)

Oh, absolutely!

(Ken Isles continues. The video shows Ken and Victor talking inside the HMCS Iroquois.)

Of the sound of the machinery at work doing all the stability and doing all the maneuvers and so on that we had to do. We had to take the ship afterward, then we went to England because we were the first ship that had aircraft engines, …gas turbine engines,…

(Victor Armes adds.)

right, …ya

(Ken Isles adds.)

with full bridge control.

(Victor Armes adds.)

Right.

(Ken Isles continues speaking as the video returns to the two men speaking.)

Then we had to do our trials down in the tropics because of the,…

(Victor Armes adds.)

to test the warmer climate.

(Victor Armes adds.)

yes so to check our, …make sure of the operation of the gas turbines, and also for the recovery of helicopters, …we carried two helicopters.

(Victor Armes replies.)

Exactly. Interesting. I did some sailing on it myself, and we went down south and I can tell you that it did get very hot at the end with the computer controls and stuff on that ship, …very warm definitely for the personnel working in the engine rooms.

(Ken Isles asks.)

Did you ever have occasion to have to recover helicopters?

(Victor Armes replies.)

We did.

(Ken Isles continues.)

With the bear trap?

(Victor Armes replies.)

Oh yes, we still use the bear trap up to the very end. Yes, we sailed with one air deck, … with one helicopter, and we had a fitness gymnasium set up on the other side of the hangar, and we had the aircraft, …the Seaking on the other side of the hangar. So ya, … ya, it was quite good…I never got to sail with two, but I have friends that did sail with two on that ship.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.

Start of clip.

(Victor Armes, Engineer is being interviewed onboard the HMCS Sackville in Halifax, Nova Scotia.)

(Interviewer asks.)

You’re the officer responsible for the disposal of the Iroquois; what has this ship meant for you over the years?

(Victor Armes replies.)

Well I’m very fortunate to have the position of officer in charge of the Iroquois, as the last officer in charge of the Iroquois, because I spent a year sailing on the Iroquois in 2011 to 2012 as the assistant engineering officer. So I met a lot of great people, sailed to some great ports, had a lot of great experiences on that ship, and I never would have guessed that five years later I come back and I’m posted as the very last engineering officer to take charge of the ship and make sure that it’s properly disposed of.

(Victor Armes continues speaking as the video shows a close-up of his face.)

Tomorrow, when the ship sails out of the ship yard for the first time, that will definitely be emotional. A lot more for some of the other crew. There are a lot of crew members I sailed out with that spent 20 to 25 years of their career on the same ship or a similar platform to that ship. So tomorrow will be an emotional day to see the ship leave, but it was the time for the ship to be disposed of and new ships are on their way, so we’ll move on.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.

Start of clip.

(Wendell Brown, Former Operations Officer is being interviewed on the HMCS Sackville in Halifax, Nova Scotia.)

(Wendell begins speaking as he stands beside a framed picture of the HMCS Iroquois.)

I joined Iroquois as a member of the second crew in 1975, and really a historic ship, because they were the first all-gas turbine ships to join a western navy, and I think probably world navy, that every other ship either had either steam or diesel as primary or secondary propulsion, and these were the first ships that come out that were totally dependent on gas turbine, actually aircraft engines. And so a very modern ship, as she came then, and certainly very welcome to the fleet.

(Len Canfield, Former Public Affairs Officer, begins to speak.)

HMCS Iroquois was one of more than 40 ships from more than 20 countries that participated in, in the review, and it was, I think, quite emotional for the crew, for all of us, when we sailed into New York and the Statue of Liberty and all the other ships that were had gathered at that time. And in addition to naval ships, there were probably 50 or 60 of the sailing ships, some of these large talling ships from around the world as well. So basically, the outer of New York harbour and the Hudson River, there was literally dozens of naval ships and sailing ships from around the world. And of course the highlight was when the review, and the President, Gerald Ford, flew over the entire and reviewed all of the ships, including Iroquois which was at that time alongside, in the western side of Manhattan, and of course, the crew on deck turned out, manning the ship for the review by the President of the United States.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

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Start of clip.

(Interviewer meets David Dagley, Mayor of Region of Queens, NS, in a local restaurant.)

(The interviewer says.)

Good afternoon, Mayor Dagley. I’m very pleased to be with you today, in this beautiful area of Nova Scotia, Liverpool. I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about what the area has gone through in the past 10 years, economically.

(The Mayor replies.)

Well the region of Queens, and specifically Liverpool area, has had some changes. We have had a number of issues, such as reductions in our fish stocks, our fish plants have closed, we’ve had a change in the Bowater Mersey operation when they merged with Abitibi. They subsequently became Resolute, we had a reduction in workforce; [and] in 2012 they closed. And that put our citizens into a situation where some had to leave and others had to go and work elsewhere while their families remained.

(The interviewer says.)

So have you seen any benefits recently, of the federal investment in the ship dismantlement industry in Liverpool?

(The Mayor replies.)

Oh yes, we’re very pleased to see new business at Port Mersey, and certainly R.J. MacIsaac, with their ship recycling, has helped the area. We have local people working, we have businesses that are seeing the benefits, and we’re also helping the federal government eliminate ships that have unfortunately met the end of their life cycle.

(The interviewer says.)

Can you give us some specific examples, perhaps, on how the whole community has reacted to this? Have you had discussions with some of the residents?

(The Mayor replies.)

Oh many residents are pleased that we have a location such as Port Mersey that will attract new business. We have local business, such as Brady’s Building Supplies that are selling products to R.J. MacIsaac, and we have local employees who are looking to those that are working here with a company that may reside elsewhere, and when they are living here, doing their weekly work, they’re buying local products, they’re renting; we’re seeing a spin-off benefit, and we’re getting some recognition around the world of the good things that we’re doing here with R.J. MacIsaac.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.

Start of clip.

(Kerry Morash, Safety Coordinator is being interviewed outside with the harbour in the background.)

(The interviewer says.)

What does this job mean to you personally?

(Kerry answers.)

Well its very important to me because I am close to home, but it is certainly very important to the local economy. We’re putting a lot of money into the area, …

(Video shows local homes and businesses.)

we’ve got people who are renting, …we’ve got people coming into visit, and it really is making a large economic impact on us.

(Video shows three people working on a large ship in the harbour.)

There’s about thirty people working for R.J. MacIsaac and there could be up to twenty five people at any one time working on any day over here helping out.

(Video shows a close up of Kerry speaking.)

We have Balfour who are the asbestos removal experts. And we have Pinchin Leblanc who are in here and doing the air monitoring.

(Video pans to a tugboat in the harbour.)

And we also have the tugs that you can see behind us. They are working today and going to be working tomorrow bringing in another vessel. So we have a lot of spin off and keep some people in the community, …keep some people working

(video moves back to showing Kerry speaking.)

and hopefully build an industry that will continue and be sustainable.

(Lucas Harvey, Labourer is outside at the harbour and begins to speak.)

It means a lot actually. Staying home, being close to my family every night. Pretty good job. Nice, nice crew to work with. So.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.

Start of clip.

(Don Himmelman, Fisherman, working outside.)

(Don speaks.)

I worked at the Old Bowater Mersey paper mill there, and I had 31 years in there when she closed up. So, …

(Interviewer remarks.)

That’s a lifetime of work!

(Don replies.)

Yep, … I said most people can get a look at retirement before that kind of years are up right, and so I said most of us if we started in early, we would be probably looking at around roughly 40 years service, before we left, so, … Now I said, our early retirement age, or normal retirement age was 58, so-which was actually pretty good compared to a lot of places.

Yeah, …

You know, so, …

(Interviewer asks.)

So you had, a lot of your-the folks you worked with over there, did any of them get work out of this MacIsaac contract?

(Don replies.)

Eh, there’s a few that got in there. I said most of the main work, like the cutting and stuff, I think they brought in crews from outside the work on that, but they did have some spots open for people also; they have provided some jobs from around here.

(Interviewer asks.)

Ok and is it, generally speaking, what kind of effect would you say it’s having on the community?

(Don replies.)

Well right now, I would say, it’s had a little bit of a benefit because, I mean, people were pretty discouraged; you know, I said, what are we going to do, right? A lot of people have done the thing of moving out west, right? So, and that’s a lot, a lot of travelling that they didn’t want to do, flying back and forth, and you know, good money, but they want to keep the families rooted here, right?

Yeah, …

So, that’s a good thing about it. I said, now some families can stick around the area, right? And I said, young people, I said they still have to look around but, … But some of us old guys, we’ve hung it out, so, … And some of them, done like I done, gone into fishing, so…

(Interviewer asks.)

So work like this is helping keep the community here?

(Don replies.)

Yeah, yep, and I, I mean they’ve had a few other projects put in the mill there too and they’ve got some upcoming ones, … but I think, it was what? Two years or something they were looking at a contract for this, and now they’ve got that third ship coming in, so hopefully, maybe if you know, down the road, they might have more, more ships coming in, so, …And apparently, there’s a lot of them around Nova Scotia, from what I understand, I think there’s over 600 vessels floating around that are abandoned, so, …

(Interviewer remarks.)

Could be a lot of work.

(Don replies, laughing.)

Yep, if they can send it up that way, that’s fine.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.

Start of clip.

(Andy Muir, Commander in the Canadian Navy, is being interviewed outside in front of the harbour. The Iroquois is being towed into the harbour.)

(The interviewer says.)

What brings you to Liverpool today?

Well, I'm actually in Halifax for meetings with my current job. And, today, it's sort of a day off. I just had the opportunity to zip down to see the Iroquois coming in to her final space, I guess.

(The interviewer says.)

So, she is joining two other vessels here!

(Andy Muir replies.)

(Iroquois in the background, being towed into harbour. camera pans to the Algonquin that is docked in the harbour.)

I actually sailed on both of those vessels, as well. So the Algonquin, I sailed in her in, I think, about 2011. I was part of the Commodore's staff, and that was the flag ship on the West Coast. So, I would have sailed on that vessel for a couple of trips, maybe about a month in length. And the Protecteur, I was the Executive Officer there for about 14 months, back in 2010.

(The interviewer asks.)

So, as someone who has sailed in the Navy, what does it mean to you to see a ship come in for its final breakup?

(Andy Muir replies.)

(We see the Iroquois move along slowly and the camera gets up close.)

Ah, I suppose it's a little,… yah, it's emotional. I mean, it's a ship that you have lots of memories, not so much of the ship itself. The memories are more of the people you've sailed with and that's what it's all about. In itself, it's a piece of steel, but, yah, it's sad to see it come in and go to breaker's yard and be done. I know on the West Coast, they've had a lot more of the vessels, they've sunk them as reefs, good for, you know, fish and good for diving and that kind of stuff. I kind of like to see that. I think that's a nice fitting way to go because the ship is still there as a structure and people can go there and look at it. Where as here, it's broken up in pieces and that's it and it ceases to exist, right.

(The Government of Canada Wordmark appears on a black screen.)

End of clip.