MV Farley Mowat to be raised in Shelburne on Sunday

Crews plan to begin raising the MV Farley Mowat from the bottom of Shelburne Harbour this weekend, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said on Friday.

RMI Marine Ltd. began preparing the vessel a few weeks ago and will start to raise it at 4 a.m. Sunday.

They will have to evenly pump out thousands of gallons of water as the vessel rises to the surface.

Different types of submersible and above-water pumps, along with cables, are placed around the ship and on the docks.

Water is pumped out at a rate of nearly 19,000 litres a minute while air is reintroduced.

The former anti-sealing vessel was once the flagship for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, but was sold several years ago.

The federal government originally seized the Farley Mowat in 2008 after its captain and first officer were arrested and accused of interfering with that season's seal hunt. Mowat — the late author who once wrote a book called The Boat Who Wouldn't Float — bailed the men out. 

Dutch national Alex Cornelissen and Swede Peter Hammarstedt were later convicted of violating the Fisheries Act and Canada's marine mammal regulations. 

The vessel was first towed to Sydney, N.S., following the arrests. It was then sold, with the idea to refit the vessel in Lunenburg and use it for expeditions.

The refit didn't happen and it was put up for sale again. Last fall, the vessel was being towed when one of the tugs had a mechanical problem and the Farley Mowat was brought into Shelburne.

It sank in June.

The town of Shelburne is suing the current owner, scrap dealer Tracy Dodds, for more than $14,000 in unpaid dock and berthage fees. Dodds bought the vessel in 2013 after it was sold at auction.