Celebration tour SportsCentre personalities broadcast from Nanaimo as part of this year’s annual adventure with Kraft Canada. PAGE 5
August 13th
Se e inside for de ta ils
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014
Sunken wreck removed from harbour
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NANAIMO PORT Authority uses a contractor to remove a sailboat from water near Protection Island. BY KARL YU
THE NEWS BULLETIN
The Nanaimo Port Authority and Heavy Metal, a local marine contractor, eliminated a problem vessel Saturday. The Valkyrian II, a large ferro-concrete hull sailboat, has lain derelict off Protection Island since last October, after it drifted off during high wind and ended up aground. It had been a n c h o re d i n t h e extended stay permit area off the island and didn’t have an engine in place nor proper ground tackle, which didn’t comply with port practices and procedures, according to Edward Dahlgren, port authority harbour master and director of operations. Attempts were made to contact the owner, a Nanaimo resident, through Transport Canada’s receiver of wrecks officer, to no avail. “ T h e r e ’s c o s t s attached to all of this, which are documented and which we’ll be taking court action to attempt to recover,” Dahlgren said.
He said the boat lost structural integrity due to the grounding and water started to get in between the layers. There was no possibility of re-floating or lifting it. “We’ve had to use basically a clam shell bucket and take it off bite at a time and then it will be taken to the landfill for disposal, having ensured there’s no hazardous materials in it – you know, asbestos, oil,” said Dahlgren. As part of the recovery, an 61-by-61-metre oyster bed had to be relocated in order to avoid damage during recovery. Dahlgren said once the boat has been removed and the beach cleaned, the bed will be returned to the site. Mitigation measures were taken in case of unforeseen circumstances that could affect the environment, said Dahlgren. “Recovering it has far less impact than leaving it there,” he said. The recovery operation is expected to cost about $60,000, Dahlgren said. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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CYAN
VOL. 26, NO. 26
house of idea
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MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
City councillor decides to run for mayor’s seat Allison Prinsen
: allison@me
ehanlewis.co
m | 604-733-1 514
BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
KARL YU/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Workers with marine contractor Heavy Metal use a spud barge and a clam shell bucket to remove the Valkyrian II, a sunken vessel near Protection Island, Saturday. The boat has lain derelict near Protection Island since October of last year.
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The race is on for Nanaimo’s mayoral seat. Nanaimo city Coun. Bill Bestwick announced Friday he will run for mayor, making him the second challenger in the upcoming election Nov. 15. Brunie Brunie has also thrown her hat into the race. “I think the time is now. I spent nine years, three terms, apprenticing for the possibility that one day this decision would have to be made,” Bestwick said in an interview with the News Bulletin. “I am all in. I am committed to hopefully having the opportunity and challenge to lead our city.” Bestwick, former general manager and coach for the Nanaimo Clippers and Victoria Grizzlies, will enter the civic election as a threetime top vote getter. This is his first time vying for the position of mayor and while he has yet to release his platform, he says his first job would be to restore and stabilize confidence in city hall. “I am going to do what I’ve always done,” Bestwick said of the upcoming election. “I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to be committed, I’m going to work harder than anyone else. “I hope that we can all work together, we need to be able to do that with a vision and not every coach’s, manager’s, visions are the same as their players but somebody has to have the vision to take us to the next stage and I hope that people believe in my vision.” Brunie, the only other candidate to publicly state intentions to run for mayor, has had her name on the ballot in several provincial and municipal elections. She hasn’t won a seat on council yet, but she says if elected, she’ll look at a tree-cutting moratorium on developments and make Nanaimo a “skateboarding capital,” which is fun and green. “No one is going to have the courage to change things and raise their voice like I would,” she said. “The news calls me the underdog politician. People can change that and vote the underdog politician top dog.” Candidate nomination packages are available at city hall Aug. 22 and the nomination period begins at the end of September. news@nanaimobulletin.com