Membertou-CME deal ship-shape
Strong need in the market for this type of vessel
The president of Canadian Maritime Engineering Ltd. says a boat-building partnership with Membertou First Nation has been a couple of years in the making.
The joint venture has received a $750,000 conditionally repayable loan from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. The funding, which was reported by the Cape Breton Post earlier this week, was officially announced at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre Friday.
“The expertise we can bring to the table in helping to assemble the units, doing the outfitting, all the mechanical, the propulsion systems, completing the structural stuff for the vessels, completing hull, doing the testing, trials, commissioning and all the Transport Canada regulations, that’s where we come in,” Tony Kennedy said in an interview.
He noted there is a strong need in the market for this type of vessel.
The hulls for the boats will be purchased from Samson Enterprises in Petit-de-Grat.
CME has worked closely with Membertou in the design and construction of the manufacturing facility in Sydport, Kennedy said.
Depending on the finishes required for an order, construction of a vessel typically takes six to eight months, he said.
Chief Terry Paul said the Mi’kmaq are no strangers to the art of boat-building and this new 12,000 square feet facility will allow Membertou to continue that tradition. He added there is an increasing demand for larger, more efficient vessels.
Three boats can be under construction at a time, and there is a goal of building 12 boats a year, employing up to 10 people full-time.
“Now let’s get building boats,” Paul said.
Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking noted Membertou has become the third-largest employer in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. He said the boat-building facility
will help Membertou continue to grow its business efforts, noting it will construct vessels that are 40 feet in length and under, for which there is currently a two-to-three-year wait.
He also noted the influence of the late Donald Marshall Jr.
and the court decision in his name that recognized that the Mi’kmaq have the right to make a moderate livelihood off commercial fisheries and opened up new opportunities for the communities.
“Our economy has changed
so much in the past 20 years, it’s important that we have many different industries and different sectors to help keep it energized and keep it moving.”