After 18 months, the removal of the Baltic III cargo ship grounded at Cedar Cove on the province’s west coast is another step closer.

Bruce English of the Canadian Coast Guard says the salvage company hired to remove the vessel has been busy at the scene.

“They’re actually doing multiple steps at once,” says English.

He says they’re setting up a water treatment plant to treat the water being pumped out of the ship’s holds. “They’re continuing to pull chains to the vessel and secure them in preparation for pulling the vessel” in addition to the removal of waste from the accommodations block.

He says once the vessel is pulled towards the shore, it will be chopped into pieces and trucked to NewCo metals in Stephenville.

He says the metal will be transported as per provincial guidelines and trucked to Stephenville where it will be cut into smaller pieces for disposal and recycling.

The trail at Little Port has been upgraded to allow for the transport of scrap metal out of the area.