by Kendall Hanson September 2, 2025 6:25 pm
The community of Union Bay is wondering what the future operations will look like at Deep Water Recovery, a shipbreaking operation in Union Bay that recycles end-of-life vessels.
The province cancelled the company’s Crown lease earlier in the summer, and the province gave the company 60 days to stop using it.
At the edge of Deep Water Recovery’s property on Tuesday, you could literally hear crickets.
Machines weren’t operating. From what CHEK News could see, nothing was happening.
Watch the full report below:
However, the citizens’ group opposed to the dismantling of ships near Baynes Sound says the company should be removing all vessels and equipment still visible on the foreshore.
“As we understand it, they were given 60 days to vacate, and that 60 days expired Sept. 1, so I’m not sure if this is a legal interpretation or not, but I would think they are no longer allowed to use the foreshore lease,” said Ian Munro, president of the Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound.
The province cancelled the Crown lease in July, citing a lack of regulatory compliance, operational responsibility, or environmental stewardship required to justify entrusting the use of Crown land to manage and dismantle end-of-life vessels.
Drone footage that a neighbour captured Monday shows what remains on the foreshore. The citizens are certain about what they’d like to see.
“Certainly, there should be zero new arrivals. Certainly, any vessels that are still on the foreshore and in the intertidal zone should be removed immediately,” said Munro.
Mark Jurisich, Deep Water Recovery’s operations manager, said he’d just returned to the country a week ago, and he’s not sure if the company is now trespassing on its Crown lease. He says the government hasn’t communicated with him since getting the letter from the province cancelling the lease. He noted the letter contained a number of errors.
In a statement BC’s Ministry of Forests says its “Natural Resource Officer Service is now responsible and considering next steps,” but that it will “continue to assess and address any actions required by Deep Water Recovery or any further contraventions of the Land Act. Until the investigation is resolved, it can’t comment further.”
The concerned citizens say there needs to be more government oversight for this industry.
“With the provincial and federal governments. Canada needs ship recycling regulations. They need to be based on a standard at least as stringent as the EU standard, which requires ships to be dismantled in a dry dock with containment,” said Munro.
The group says it doesn’t think Deep Water Recovery will go easily as long as it’s making money, but they don’t believe it’s the right location for this type of work.
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