The federal government says a new plane unveiled Friday will give authorities a technological advantage over ocean-bound polluters.

A new Dash 8 aircraft, outfitted with high-tech surveillance gear, was shown to journalists at a government hangar at the St. John's airport.

A new Dash 8 has been outfitted with high-tech surveillance gear.
(CBC)

Federal Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon said the plane will give crews the ability to monitor the seas with stealth at the peak times when polluting ships dump their bilges in traffic lanes.

"[This] will enable Canada to detect polluters at night, under low cloud," Cannon told reporters Friday.

"More importantly, however, the aircraft will act as a significant deterrent to the would-be polluters as it becomes widely known that we are monitoring them more closely than ever before."

Pollution is a perennial problem, with oily seabirds often bearing the brunt of the dumping. Canada has had little success over the years with prosecuting offenders.

An estimated 300,000 seabirds are killed each year off the coasts of Newfoundland by waste oil dumped at sea.

"It's been very difficult to detect oil spills particularly because some of the worst offenders dump at night," said Environment Minister Rona Ambrose.

"This gives us the technology to view what they're doing at night, catch them, and they won't have any excuses anymore."

Plans for the new Dash 8, which will be based in New Brunswick, were first announced by the former Liberal government two years ago.

In addition to monitoring the Atlantic Ocean, the plane will be assigned to cases in the Great Lakes.