An Oceanex cargo ship originally bound for Montreal entered Halifax harbour Tuesday morning. (CBC)

Ships are beginning to be diverted to the Port of Halifax as a labour dispute has paralyzed the shipment of goods through Montreal.

Commercial operations at the Port of Montreal came to a halt Monday morning after the Maritime Employers Association locked out 850 longshoremen in a dispute over a new collective agreement.

On Tuesday morning, an Oceanex cargo ship originally bound for Montreal entered Halifax harbour. The company's chairman said more ships could start arriving in the next few days.

"We have a ship in Halifax this morning, the Cabot, which was to depart St. John's to go back to Montreal. We diverted her to Halifax and we've started moving as many materials as we can through Halifax," said Sid Hynes.

Port authority officials say facilities in Halifax can handle the extra work.

'Our terminals have the capacity'

"As with a cruise ship diverted because of a hurricane or cargo ship that needs to call Halifax, our terminals have the capacity to take extra cargo, so it's possible for the cargo to arrive in Halifax on short notice," said Michele Peveril, spokesperson for the Port of Halifax. Peveril said the port is currently running at only one-third of its capacity.

Moving the Oceanex fleet to Halifax would allow the company to send ships twice a week between St. John's and Halifax instead of once a week between St. John's and Montreal, Hynes said.

But costs would increase as well, due to the need to move goods to and from Central Canada via rail or truck. Hynes said those costs would be passed on to the customer.

At least two other shipping lines plan to divert Montreal-bound containerized cargo to Halifax on Wednesday.

Halifax longshoremen are bound by a separate contract, which makes them unable to refuse to unload the cargo despite the labour dispute involving longshoremen in Montreal.