The province has provided $2 million through its Clean Coast, Clean Water Initiative to fund the project, led by the Songhees Development Corporation, Salish Sea Industrial Services and the Dead Boats Disposal Society.
Salish Sea Industrial Services is a marine construction business jointly owned by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations in partnership with the Ralmax Group.
It operates a 145-foot barge and 150-tonne crawler crane that lifts boats out of the water and hauls them to home base at Point Hope Maritime on the Upper Harbour, where they are broken down in a containment area. Stainless steel pieces, batteries, hull windows, engines, wood, plastics and hydrocarbons are recycled, and the rest — the bulk of it fibreglass — is hauled to the landfill.