Ports Toronto refuses to disclose how much it is paying a veteran scrapper to tow Captain John’s floating restaurant from the foot of Yonge St. and cut it into tiny, rusting pieces, other than to stress it won’t cost taxpayers a dime.

The costs of the complex tow by two specialized tugs through the Welland Canal to Port Colborne — estimated by some marine experts at well over $400,000 — are being shared by the federal port authority, Waterfront Toronto and Cityzen Developments.

Waterfront Toronto, which gets most of its funding from the three levels of government, said its share will come from the sale of waterfront land.

Ports Toronto stressed that it is financially self-sufficient through its port and island airport operations and that the bid details are proprietary.

Cityzen, which couldn’t be reached for comment, is a private development company which is building the waterfront Residences of Pier 27 condo complex immediately to the east of the rusting relic and had been promised the ship would be gone last year. It’s launching sales soon for a new, 35-storey condo tower on the parking lot adjacent to Captain John’s.

Federal court justice Kevin Aalto approved a deal Monday that will see the ship sail one last time — by May 26, weather willing — tied to two massive tugs that will take it to the Port Colborne scrap yard of Marine Recycling Corp.

Alto approved the sale — after a first auction last summer ended in failure — after being warned that the aged ship, the Jadran, is in “shocking” condition and has almost sunk twice in the last month.

“This is clearly a case that requires closure,” Aalto said, adding that Marine Recycling’s bid was the most credible of four proposals, two of them “negative bids” that will see waterfront officials pay, rather than get paid, money.

The other was an offer from Priestly Demolition in partnership with entrepreneur James Sbrolla to remove it for $250,000.

Sbrolla agreed to pay $33,501 for the ship last summer, but failed to meet some payment deadlines and later partnered with Priestly in hopes of starting demolition at the foot of Parliament St. Ports Toronto eventually rejected the plan and returned Sbrolla’s money.

“I’m sure they don’t want the number made public because they overpaid so badly to have it taken away,” Sbrolla said outside the court, referring to the Marine Recycling bid.

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But it’s been clear from the start that this is no easy feat: Marine surveys have shown the ship is top heavy, polluted with asbestos and now weighed down by about 10 feet of oily water.

The biggest risk is that the ship could “turtle” as it’s being angled out of Toronto’s harbour and become a new kind of landmark — a costly impediment to seaway traffic, salvage master Wayne Elliott of Marine Recycling told court.

“The vessel is ripe,” Elliott testified Monday. “That doesn’t refer to a nice ripe piece of fruit. It’s more like a rotten piece of fruit.”

“This is not a vessel that anything else wants to go wrong with,” he added.

Of course, it was far from smooth sailing right up until the end for the once fine-dining establishment which was shut down by public health officials almost three years ago. It has been the subject of legal wrangling and two court auctions since then aimed at somehow recovering more than $1 million in back taxes, berthing and other fees that “Captain” John Letnik owes to Ports Toronto, Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto.

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Letnik, 76, was pressing the court to look at other options, widely seen as long dead, that might give the ship a new life as an entertainment venue and help pay off his debts.

But as the desperate, last-ditch effort to save his life’s work came to an end, Elliott reached out his hand to Letnik, calling him “a gentleman.” He even offered Letnik a spot on the Jadran as it’s towed away from its prime waterfront real estate later this month.

“I would like to be part of the last voyage,” Letnik said outside court, fighting back tears. “I’m very much honoured that he has invited me.”