Question Period Note: Environmental Response: M/V Cormorant

• The safety of mariners and the protection of the marine environment are the top priorities for the Canadian Coast Guard. The Cormorant was assessed as a threat of pollution.
• The Coast Guard is taking action to remediate this threat. The vessel has now been secured and stabilized, and a removal plan has been requested from the owner to ensure this environmental threat is permanently eliminated.
• Moving forward, the new Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessel Act (WAHVA) will provide Coast Guard with the ability to prevent and address vessels abandoned in Canadian waters from becoming derelict or hazards to our environment.

• The Motor Vessel (M/V) Cormorant was originally constructed as a trawler in 1965 under the name of “Aspa Quarto”. In 1975 it was sold to the Canadian Armed Forces and renamed HMCS Cormorant. The vessel remained in service until 1997, when it was sold to a US buyer for diving operations. M/V cormorant was docked in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia (NS) in 2000, where it has remained since.
• The Coast Guard intervened to raise and stabilize the vessel in 2015 and removed 30,000 litres of “product” and took measures to prevent hydraulic fluid from leaking from the vessel.
• The Coast Guard routinely visits the M/V Cormorant for monitoring purposes. After 4 years unattended, in June 2019, Coast Guard began conducting a technical assessment of the vessel to determine if it was a threat of pollution as the vessel was showing signs of deterioration.
• The assessment deliverables were: 1) quantify any pollutants remaining on the vessel 2) assess the overall structural integrity of the vessel 3) assess stability 4) inspect the mooring arrangements 5) assess maintenance and site security provisions in place for the vessel 6) determine risk of pollution.
• On November 12, 2019 the assessment determined that the M/V Cormorant poses “a grave and imminent threat of pollution”.
• Coast Guard has taken action. On December 11, 2019, operations were completed to secure and stabilize the vessel. This included securing the site and protecting public and responder safety; removing oil, bilge water and oily water mix from various areas of the hull; and conducting diving operations to affect temporary repairs to the hull to prevent further water ingress.
• The initial phase of the vessel stabilization work is now completed and the Coast Guard is actively monitoring the vessel on a regular basis. The Coast Guard is communicating with the owner of the Cormorant and has requested from the owner a plan for the removal of the vessel which will inform next steps to address a permanent solution for the MV Cormorant.

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