HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's transportation minister says he has extended the deadline by a week for companies to express interest in removing the wreck of the MV Miner, which has been stranded off Cape Breton for more than two years.
The original request for proposals was issued last month and the deadline was Wednesday.
Geoff MacLellan says 20 companies have expressed interest in bidding for the job, but as many as six have asked for the delay in order to gather more information before possibly submitting bids.
MacLellan says many of those questions concern specific environmental and occupational health and safety requirements that companies must follow.
He says he's encouraged by the number of companies that appear interested because increased competition could benefit taxpayers on the cost of the ship's removal.
The 223-metre bulk carrier was stranded in September 2011 off the Scaterie Island protected area after a line snapped in rough seas while it was being towed from Montreal to a scrapyard in Turkey.
