A company that has committed to dismantling a ship stranded off Cape Breton for almost a year has accused another firm of stripping the vessel of its valuable metals.
Abe Shah, a senior partner with the Bennington Group, made the allegation in a letter to the Nova Scotia government.
Shah said the province's Natural Resources Department hired a company last year to remove floatable items such as chairs and tables from the MV Miner, but instead the firm removed all precious metals.
"In every room, most of the floatables are still present," Shah wrote in his letter.
"Whereas the brass on portholes, the brass on the captain's tables, stainless steel kitchen tables bolted to the floor, copper cabling that ran from the stern to the bow and from the engines to the electrical units, etc. have all been removed.
"The contractor's actions have deprived the owner and Bennington of non ferrous-items valued at more than $500,000."
The letter does not identify the contractor. But last fall, the provincial government hired Dutch company Mammoet Salvage to remove loose items and contaminants from the ship.
Bas Coppes, president of the company's American division, said crews could not remove all the floatable items because of the winter weather. "We never took any brass or any valuable metals," Coppes said Friday.
The department said government employees oversaw Mammoet Salvage's operation and there was no evidence valuable metals were taken.
The 230-metre bulk carrier ran aground on Scaterie Island last September while being towed to a scrapyard in Turkey.
