As B.C. tries to find ways to boost domestic shipbuilding after B.C. Ferries awarded a major contract to a Chinese shipyard, it is wrestling with another issue: What to do with aging vessels when they are ready to die?

“It’s the circular economy,” said Alex Rueben, executive director of the Association of B.C. Marine Industries, a group pushing to make the West Coast a hub for ship dismantling and recycling. “We can build ships, but we also have to get rid of them.”

His association estimates there are some 900 aging vessels plying B.C. waters —  almost 100 of them over 500 tons — that will be in need of scrapping and recycling in the next decade. There is concern that the aging vessels pose environmental risks, including fuel leaks and exposure to toxic paint.

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