

CTV Atlantic





A mysterious sunken boat that had been an eyesore and a navigational hazard in Halifax for a year has gone to its final resting place, but it remains as mysterious as ever.

The nameless, 35-foot cement-hulled boat sunk in the picturesque waters of the Northwest Arm, near the Dingle Tower, about a year ago and its owner is nowhere to be found.

With its mast sticking up out of the water, the strange sight proved to be a draw for divers and marine life.

While outdated, the notion of a cement boat still holds a certain fascination with sailors.

“It’s a rare boat. It’s not modern technology,” says David Sampson. “It’s an old technology but it was quite a technology in its day.”

The Halifax Port Authority tried to track down the boat’s owner but its efforts were unsuccessful.

“We did work with police throughout this process and we did come up with a couple of leads but none of those leads panned out,” says Halifax Port Authority spokesperson Lane Farguson.

“There’s no reason for that vessel to be there in the first place.”

The Halifax Port Authority took charge of the recovery effort and the boat was recently pulled from the Northwest Arm and towed to nearby Purcells Cove, where it was to be loaded onto a flatbed before being hauled to a dump.

But the operation didn’t go as planned.

“Too big, too bulky and maybe too high,” says Sampson.

In the end, crews used heavy equipment and a dump truck to transport the crumbing water-logged vessel on its final voyage – to the dump.

While the boat has been laid to rest, the circumstances surrounding its sinking remain a mystery.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Bruce Frisko