TOXIC: Rusting, toxic US 'ghost fleet' on way to UK

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Rusting, toxic 'ghost fleet' on way to UK

 

John Vidal, environment editor

Wednesday September 3, 2003

<http://www.guardian.co.uk>The Guardian

 

A fleet of 13 dilapidated US ships, heavily polluted with asbestos, oil and

deadly PCBs, will embark on the 4,500-mile journey from America's east

coast to Teesside in the next month amid warnings from salvage experts that

they risk bringing an environmental disaster in their wake.

 

Seven years ago Bill Clinton ruled that the US navy's " ghost fleet " of 120

decomposing hulks could not be scrapped in developing countries because

their pollution and toxic loads risked the lives of shipyard workers.

 

But a British company has signed a $17m (£10.8m) contract to dismantle the

most fragile vessels at a dockyard near Hartlepool.

 

AbleUK, which also stands to get two almost-complete oil tankers from the

US government as part of the deal, is expected to submit detailed plans of

the proposed voyage in the next few days.

 

Under the contract, a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian, the

company is obliged to remove all 13 ships from the James river in Virginia,

where they have been slowly rusting for the past 15 years, by the end of

November or face a $1,350 daily fine for each vessel.

 

They are in such poor condition that to stand any chance of surviving the

crossing, they will have to leave by the end of this month, before the

onset of autumn storms in the Atlantic.

 

A leading US salvage expert, who has surveyed most of the ships involved in

the contract, has told the Guardian that there is a risk that some of the

ships will be breaking up by the time they reach Teesside.

 

Tim Mullane, of Virginia-based company Dominion Maritime, said: " They're

leaking, and listing, and that's just sitting at anchor in a river. If they

get to sea, some will definitely start to break up.

 

" A pollution slick will follow them all the way across the Atlantic. When

they get to Teesside they will be leaking even more and be more liable to

break up. Their bottoms are rotting out and they will leak at anchor.

 

" Some of them have hundreds of tonnes of heavy oil aboard which will leak

out and pollute the river there. "

 

At least two ships would struggle to make it 15 miles into the Atlantic, he

added.

 

Some of the vessels are almost 60 years old. The 12,000-tonne supply ship

Canisteo was launched in July 1945. Over the next 50 years the Can-o-shit,

as she was known to her crew, was involved in the Cuban missile crisis and

the Korean war.

 

Last night environmental campaigners condemned the deal. Friends of the

Earth claimed that the AbleUK dockyard would not be fully operational and

that no planning permission had been granted by the local authority. " The

fear is that the boats will come over and have to wait in the river Tees in

an even more dangerous state, " a spokesman said.

 

The Irish government and the Scottish executive have also voiced concern

about the pollution threat posed by the fleet as it passes through their

coastal waters. The safety risks means they will not be allowed to go

through the English Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and

will instead go around the northern tip of Scotland and down the North sea.

 

The deal may yet be scuppered. The Department of Transport's maritime and

coastguard agency said it had asked for a full pollution risk assessments

of these ships, a detailed passage plan showing exactly where they would go

and what they would do in bad weather, and what alternatives they have in

an emergency.

 

" We have the power to refuse them on safety grounds, " a spokeswoman said.

 

But AbleUK moved to calm fears that the ships would pollute Teesside,

insisting that it would be able to handle all 13 vessels at the same time.

 

" Once within the facility the basin will be drained and sealed - allowing

'dry' dismantling which, as well as being much safer for those undertaking

the work, will prevent any risk of wastes from the vessels entering

surrounding waters, " it said on its website.

 

The environment agency also defended its decision to approve the deal.

 

" There is free trade in waste for recovery under international and EU law, "

a spokesman said. " To obstruct it without valid reason would put the UK in

breach of that law. "

 

In a letter to FoE's lawyer, the health and safety executive said it was

legal and acceptable for asbestos to be imported into the country because

of the high standards expected of AbleUK.

 

It also said there was no capacity in US shipyards to dispose of such

polluting materials.

 

Robyn Boerstling, of the US maritime administration, said: " These ships are

desperately in need of disposal, and a commercial decision has been made

that AbleUK on Teesside offers the best option. They have to be removed due

to the toxic substances control legalisation. "

 

On Teesside, reaction to the fleet's imminent arrival was mixed. " Most

people are delighted that much-needed work is coming but they do not

necessarily like the idea of taking US waste, " said Carol Zagrovic, a local

community worker.

 

" When locals ask for information they're only told that it is an

opportunity, or that it means work. But a lot of people are horrified, too. "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,1034598,00.html