http://www.dailybusinessbuzz.ca/2010/07 ... ite-for-1/
NS: Irving to take over ship repair site for $1
By Amy Woolvett, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Coast Guard, Jul. 28/10
Irving Shipbuilding is poised to purchase the Shelburne Ship Repair yard from the province for $1.
The company is in the process of completing a transaction with Nova Scotia Business Inc. to purchase the site after 13 years of leasing. It also will be purchasing a water lot in front of the shipyard site for fair market value.
“The company is undertaking significant investments in improving the wharf and the marine railway at the site,” says Mary Keith, vice president of communications for J.D. Irving, Ltd. “Given these investments to secure the long-term future of the shipyard, an agreement to purchase makes good business sense.”
Earlier in the year the government loaned the company $9 million to make the much-needed improvements to the dry dock and railway. If steady jobs are created, $2 million of the loan is repayable.
Total investments in shipyard improvements are estimated at $10 million.
When the Shelburne yard closed last year, 60 workers were laid off, but 27 employees were rehired to work on the upgrades. An additional 20 are working on the Mexican offshore drill rig docked in Dartmouth. It is estimated the full 60 workers will be back to work at the shipyard once operations resume in Shelburne.
Keith says work on the cradle and marine railway are expected to be completed by the end of the year and wharf repairs to be finished by spring 2011.
Tags:Dartmouth, Irving Shipbuilding, JD Irving Ltd., Nova Scotia Business, Shelburne