Dubbed the “Ghost Fleet”, the 94 derelict and leaking US ships are believed to be packed with toxic chemicals, asbestos and oil. It is proposed that the first convoy of 13 ships will leave their Virginia base this summer to cross the Atlantic to be dismantled at a wrecking yard on Teesside.

The ships will have to be towed around the Caithness coast through the narrow Pentland Firth and down the east coast of Scotland to get there.

The warships, tankers, bulk carriers and tank transporters – a number of which date from World War Two – were part of the National Defence Reserve Fleet but lay unused and rusting on the James River for years.

The hulks, which were banned from leaving US waters by the country’s environmental protection agency until last month, have been described as “ticking time bombs” by American transport officials.

Jamie Stone, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, yesterday criticised the plans which were exposed in a Sunday newspaper. The Liberal Democrat says he will raise the issue in the Scottish Parliament at the earliest opportunity.

He fears it could lead to another Ascania – the Cypriot-registered tanker, which was carrying a highly volatile cargo of chemicals, sparked a full-scale emergency in March 1999 when it went on fire off the Caithness coastline.

Around 600 people within a five-mile radius were asked to leave their homes after the vessel lost power and drifted dangerously close to Dunnet Head. At the time, Councillor John Green – who represents Caithness North-East on the Highland Council – felt that tankers with dangerous cargoes should not be allowed through the firth. Dunnet Bay Initiative chairman Will Menzies described the firth as one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world.

Speaking from his Edinburgh office yesterday, Mr Stone said: “Everyone knows the Pentland Firth is a very treacherous stretch of water as was proved by the Ascania incident.

“I will raise this in parliament at the earliest opportunity. I need to know two things – firstly, what is being planned and, secondly, what safeguards will be in place to minimise any chance of an accident."

“I find it quite surprising the first I know about this is when I read it in a newspaper. Surely it’s common courtesy that the appropriate authorities inform myself and the council.”

Mr Stone has also asked John Thurso, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, to raise the matter in Westminster.