BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (CP) - Canadian navy divers slipped into the murky waters off this small Alabama fishing community Sunday in their first major salvage operation since being deployed to help the Gulf Coast recover from hurricane Katrina.

The planned three-day effort comes as Canadian military assistance in the disaster zone began to ramp up.

A military medical team from CFB Greenwood, N.S., also arrived Sunday in Pensacola, Fla., which is best known for training U.S. navy flyers.

But the most visible sign of the Canadian humanitarian effort is expected to arrive Monday, also in Pensacola, as a three-ship naval convoy is slated to anchor at first light and begin unloading thousands of tonnes of badly needed supplies.

The Canadian coast guard icebreaker Sir William Alexander left along with the three warships Tuesday from Halifax and is expected to arrive at the Gulf Coast later in the week.

American officials have started making plans for Canadian personnel once they have unloaded their cargo in Pensacola.

Lt.-Cmdr. Elissa Smith said she expects the warships to move along the coast to Gulf Port, Miss., and Biloxi, Miss., to join Dutch and Mexican personnel.

She said they will help in "community relations" projects, such as cleaning damaged schools.

"They'll be going ashore and helping out where needed, " said Smith from the USS Iwo Jima, which was moored in New Orleans.

She said the Sir William Alexander will help restore navigational buoys in the region's harbours that have been damaged or moved.

The buoys will be essential in returning commercial traffic to ports along the Gulf Coast, Smith said.

Canadian divers are expected to be in the disaster area for the next 45 days, carrying out more salvage operations like the one Bayou La Batre.

"This is a perfect assignment for us," said Lieut. Todd Dupuis, as he surveyed the small bayou which was littered with semi-submerged and beached fishing boats.

"This is exactly the kind of assignment we do and we're trained for."

The recovery of the shrimp trawler is the biggest, most dangerous action they've undertaken so far, said Dupuis.

A 15-man dive team will take short turns clearing away tangled rigging, wires and debris around the overturned boat.

The 26-metre, 120-tonne trawler sits in the middle of the vital channel like an immobile turtle, blocking all traffic into and out of the tiny Alabama fishing port.

The owner of the sunken fishing boat said the arrival of the Canadians made he and his country feel less isolated.

"All of my life, the United States has always been in a giving position; never once in a receiving (position), until this," said Fred (Buddy) Johnson, 65, who owned 10 boats prior to the devastating hurricane.

"We've had all of catastrophies, all over the world. Who's the first one to go to help? The United States. We have catastrophies, nobody comes here. But Canada came this time. Believe me we really appreciate it."

Four of Johnson's other boats were beached on marshy grassland on either side of the inlet.

Between his shipping losses and the wrecking of his dockside repair facilities, he estimated his damages to be about $3 million US.

"Some things you just take granted, uh?" he said, motioning to the twisted remains of storage buildings where corrugated tin walls were peeled back like paper.

"Now it's all gone."

Johnson said he hopes to rebuild, starting with the help of the Canadians. The 40-member military dive team, from units in Halifax, Esquimalt, B.C. and Gagetown, N.B., began working alongside their American counterparts last week in the nearby community of Pascagoula, Miss., population 26,000.

Their job had been to scour the filthy, contaminated water for bodies and other obstructions, which litter the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Dupuis said so far they have not come across any human remains, but they're prepared for the eventuality.

Similarly, aboard HMCS Athabaskan a specialist from the U.S. navy began preparing the Canadian crews Sunday for some the grim tasks they may face in the coming days.

"We know how desperate the situation is and how much people are suffering," said Lt.-Cmdr Alex Grant, executive officer of the destroyer.

He said crew members will be watching each other for signs of psychological distress.

Capt. Matthew Dionne, a doctor with the Canadian medical unit which flew to the stormed-ravaged U.S. Gulf Coast, said they're prepared to treat more than just physical injuries.