The now-iconic barge beached in Vancouver's English Bay won't be around forever.
How much longer exactly is unclear, but a plan that will see it cut up and hauled to a scrapyard is making its way through the regulatory bodies, says the company that owns the barge.
Sentry Marine Towing says permits to move the process along are being expedited, but the process isn't quick as several local government bodies are involved, along with an insurance company.
However, the hope is to get started in the next 30 days, according to the company.
Once the permits are in place the process of cutting the massive barge with somewhere around 1,800 tons of steel will take at least a couple of months. The insurance company will take control of the material once it is cut up.
Contractors will be using torches and air lances to cut it into pieces that can be craned up and onto a flat barge and hauled down to a scrapyard near Tacoma, Washington. A fence will be put up around the site to keep the public out.
While the cost of getting the barge off in one piece is estimated to be about equal to the cut-and-haul plan, it has more risk. With the tides slowly damaging the barge, the potential for environmental damage and other risks the company says this was the decision it came to, even though it wasn't the outcome they'd hoped for.
The barge first got stuck on Nov. 15, 2021 during a windstorm and has become a bit of a novelty landmark in Vancouver.
